IG Fic Series 2013 Book Four – The Yesterday Man
by Aline Riva
Summary: With Gadget suffering unrepairable damage in the crash, Scolex steals the time machine to travel to the past to stop his younger self becoming Claw, hoping he can alter the future - but he hasn't considered the effect this could have on the timeline, forcing Gadget to go back in time to team up with his former self John Brown, to stop Scolex from causing a potential disaster...
1. Chapter 1

IG Fic Series 2013 Book Four – The Yesterday Man.

Summary

After Jax Wilberforce blew the bridge and caused the Gadget Mobile to crash, the car was left as shattered as the Inspector – and now Gadget is living on borrowed time as he struggles to cope with damage to his robotic body that can not be fully repaired.

But with the discovery of the time machine, Sanford Scolex sees a glimmer of hope – and using deceit better suited to the days when he was known as Claw, Scolex uses the machine to go back in time – back to the days before he had ever turned to crime, intending to persuade his younger self to alter his plans, and change the future in the process.

But Sanford, who is acting out of love for his close friend Gadget, is forgetting the dangers of meddling with time – and this complicates further when he forms a plan to murder Jax, so the accident on the Riverton Bridge never happens – but he hasn't yet realized that altering time to this extent would mean the time machine would never be built in the first place...

Although weakened by the damage to his cyborg body, Gadget recovers enough to defy Chief Quimby's orders, and uses the machine to go back in time to find Scolex and bring him back, before the future is changed forever in ways that could prove disastrous.

_But even Gadget can't go back in time and avoid causing alterations to the time line that will affect the future... _

Back in the past, Gadget must team up with John Brown, security guard, to stop both Scolex and his younger self from causing a disaster.

But John does not recognize the man named Gadget as his future self, and when he learns the truth has many questions – and Gadget considers warning him about the explosion that will be caused by Claw – but what will become of his future life as Inspector Gadget if he tells him the truth?

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Rated: T

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Warnings: Contains some subject matter that may be considered erotic by some. (Yes, Bess and the modification process again). Also some adult themes and situations, some violence.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is a work of fan fiction.

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Chapter 1

The sun was rising over Riverton.

The skies were clear and as he looked out the window at the town, Gadget smiled.

"The fires are out," he said weakly.

Brenda Bradford said nothing as she turned from the window and walked over to his bedside.

Gadget looked up at her.

"I remember what you told me," he added, "I know this is serious."

Brenda sat down next to his bed.

"Yes, the fires are out and the riot is over," she replied, "But when the bridge blew and you went off the road you tore a main cable. We fixed it and everything that can heal rapidly has done so – but we can't stop the leak inside the cable."

Gadget looked back at the blue skies beyond the window and his eyes reflected the same shade until tears filled them and he looked back at Brenda.

"I know what that means," he said in a hushed voice, "You can't fix me, can you..."

Brenda took a mirror from beside the bed and held it out, while gently touching the side of his neck.

"You have two lines running into the unstable part of the cable. One deals with the leaking fluid and dissolves it and the other pumps in fresh fluids to try to replace what you lose. You have two pumps fitted inside you to deal with it. But it's _not _a cure. I can't promise you will live for a long time like this, I just don't know. Eventually you will lose the fluid faster than we can replace it. _Eventually._ You're responding much better to the treatment than I first thought you would, so that has to be something positive."

Gadget blinked away tears.

"Do Penny or Bess know?"

Brenda nodded.

"They both waited here while you were in the lab. So did Scolex and so did Taylor Braydon and his wife Emma. That was three days ago. You've been heavily sedated while your rapid healing took place, I thought it would be best to keep you that way so that what could be repaired fixed itself while you slept."

Gadget was still looking in the mirror as he reached up and cautiously touched two thin silver cables that came out of his shoulder, ran up his neck and disappeared back into flesh behind his ear.

"How soon can I get out of here?" he asked her as he took the mirror and placed it next to the bed once more.

Brenda looked at him sadly.

"You shouldn't be thinking about doing anything other than resting, Gadget! As soon as you're able to go home I want you to stay there, stay in bed, do as little as possible. The more you rest, the longer you'll live. So please listen to me and take things very, _very _easy. Let Bess look after you, she's over the cybernetic work now. I checked her over today and her heart and lungs are working fine. She could use a couple of weeks off to get over it properly, but she's more than capable of looking after you now. So let her do that."

Gadget leaned back against soft pillows and gave a heavy sigh.

"I just want to get back to work!"

"That's completely out of the question. Your condition is life threatening _and_ life limiting. You have to accept that and do all you can to take care of yourself. All that matters now is that you rest and live as long as you can."

_Gadget didn't want to think too much about the future, how ever long or short it turned out to be. He had learned since the day he had been caught in an explosion and woken up a cyborg that life never turned out the way it was expected, and he was used to taking one day at a time. As soon as he had heard the news about the main cable rupture, he had decided to do the same with this situation - to take it slow and not plan too far ahead, or to think too much about frightening possibilities..._

"What happened to the Gadget Mobile?"

"The car's being repaired. I have some main wiring to fix and it's going to be a few days before Gadget Mobile's systems are up and running but –"

"_Don't tell him."_

"What do you mean?"

Gadget blinked away more tears.

"Don't tell him the truth. Tell him I'm damaged but _don't _tell him the damage could kill me. He will never forgive himself; he'll think it's all his fault."

Brenda stared at him.

"Why would the car think that, Gadget? You were traveling across the bridge and Jax had planted and primed explosives – no one could have known they were there! Even if Scolex had been at work in the control center that day, he wouldn't have spotted them – he wouldn't have had a reason to scan beneath the bridge! No one knew. The only one to blame is Jax, and he's dead."

Gadget blinked.

"He didn't make it?"

Sadness reflected in Brenda's eyes, but the look was brief and then it was gone.

"He was dying from the moment he took the overdose. We tried to keep him alive but he passed away a few hours after being brought in."

As she saw genuine sympathy in Gadget's eyes, she wanted to weep for him.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, and Brenda shook her head.

"Don't be. It's his fault you're on borrowed time. I think when I found out what he'd done to you my love for him was just about wiped out."

"You can't wipe out love," Gadget said gently, and Brenda struggled to hold back her tears.

_In all the time she had loved Jax, she had also never stopped loving the man whose name would always be in her heart – and that man's name was Inspector Gadget..._

Brenda swiftly moved on to the subject of his fiancee.

"Bess has been at your side night and day," she told him, "She went home a couple of hours ago to get some rest. I'll call her and let her know you're awake."

"No," Gadget replied, "Let her sleep. Call her later on, I could use some more sleep myself. Call Penny, let her know I'm awake – and make sure she knows the good news that the pump's working. That's something positive, it's better than nothing. I want to try and keep everyone positive, it's the best way."

Brenda nodded.

"I'll go and call her, you get some more sleep."

"Thanks, Brenda," Gadget replied, and then he closed his eyes again, breathing deeply as he welcomed sleep and the healing process it would bring, at least to the parts of his body that were still capable of healing...

* * *

As Brenda walked away from Gadget's room, she took in a deep breath, wiped her eyes and remembered she had a job to do, even if her heart was breaking and all she wanted to do was go home and cry.

Gadget had always shown tremendous courage, right from the day he had woken up after an explosion that destroyed half his body and found out he was now a cyborg. She felt sure he would show the same kind of courage to face this – he had learned to deal with adversity as a way of life, and that attitude had carried him through much over the years...

Then as she reached her office her phone started ringing and she gave a sigh; feeling the way she did, all she wanted to do was make that call to Penny and then shut herself away for a few hours while her gaze constantly shifted to pictures of her and Gadget back in the old days, because right now the past felt like the only safe, predictable place to go, where no danger lurked around each corner.

Brenda answered the call.

It was Quimby.

"Chief, I've had a busy morning, can this wait?"

"I really need someone to come over to Braydon Industries and look at the time machine. I was hoping with your knowledge of cybernetics you might be able to help."

His remark threw her into confusion.

"But it's a time machine."

"And there seems to be adjustments in the machine that suggest it's designed for cyborg use, there are controls to input the level of modification, so the machine understands it's transporting human and artificial matter. I think Jax was looking ahead to a time when most people would have cyborg parts to varying degrees – he was assuming the average time traveler is likely to be cyborg."

"Right now my concern is Gadget. He's responding much better to the pumping system than we first thought. I think with total rest and proper care he could live maybe a few months – possibly even longer. It's looking a lot more positive in that respect. I want to keep him monitored for a while."

"That's good news," Quimby replied, "But I _really_ need your opinion on this machine. Taylor's people are figuring out how the thing works. I just need a cybernetics expert with your level of experience to come over and check out the cybernetic aspect. I've already called Dr Felix Todd from NASA, he's worked in your field before and he's coming over tomorrow. I expect you'll remember him."

The name meant nothing to her.

"I've never heard of him!"

"Well he said he's worked on a project with you a few years back."

Brenda frowned.

"I don;t know him..."

"Well, he's coming over to Riverton tomorrow," Quimby added, "Maybe over the next few days you could make a little bit of time to go over the cybernetic aspect of the machine with him. We really need to understand how it works."

Brenda gave a sigh.

"If Gadget continues to rest and improve he can go home in a couple of days. But he has to have absolute rest at all times. I have to be sure he's going to take that advice on board – his life depends on it."

"Thank you, Dr Bradford," Quimby replied, and hung up, leaving her with the frustrating feeling that _Thank you_ seemed to indicate he took it that she had already agreed.

Then she decided to make that call to Penny, and while she waited for the phone to be answered, she was still wondering who Dr Felix Todd was and where she knew him from. But no matter how hard she thought about it, she _still _couldn't recall him...

* * *

Sanford Scolex had taken time off work.

The riots were over and peace was once again restored to Riverton, this and the fact that Quimby understood how concerned he was about his closest friend, had led to the Chief telling him to take some time off to be there for Gadget.

As Riley walked into the front room and saw his father sitting beside the phone with a worried look in his eyes, he went over to him and sat down.

"He's still alive," he reminded him, "And Penny said when Brenda called she found out the treatment's working better than they thought it would. It's going to buy him some time."

But Sanford gave a sob and shook his head.

"I keep thinking, Riley – all those years I wasted. Not just the way I missed your childhood, I mean with Gadget. I never knew the man who spent so long trying to stop me from breaking the law would one day turn out to be my dearest friend."

And he looked at Riley as tears burned in his eyes.

"But we _don't _know, do we? None of us can know how the future will turn out. When I think back to the wrong choices I made, when I recall every single mistake, every hurt I ever caused to Gadget when I was Claw – I hate myself for it! I didn't know one day we would be friends and I would love him like a brother! If I'd known, I would have done things differently. I _never_ would have broken into the lab, I never would have blown up his car...that's what started all this – I went too bloody far and then it was too late to turn back! I was like a child, but playing a game with people's lives, I had no idea, I didn't know one day life would change. It _can _change, Riley – it can change in the blink of an eye and I have so many regrets..."

Riley had listened, but did not know what to say.

He guessed his father would always carry guilt and regret for his past actions in the days he had lived as Claw.

"But you're good friends now," he reminded him, "That's got to count for something."

"It's not enough," Sanford replied, "I have to put this right."

"But you can't change the past," Riley reminded him, "All you can do is make the most of now. That's what Gadget does. You should do the same."

Sanford took in a shaken breath as he wiped his eyes.

"I'll go over to visit him as soon as he's awake. I'll take Penny with me, she wants to get over there as soon as he's ready for visitors."

"I'll stay here and look after SJ," Riley replied.

"Thank you son," he said quietly, then he fell silent as it dawned on him that the plan he was forming in his mind was something he couldn't even share with Riley:

He was determined to use the time machine to go back and find himself, before he had turned to crime, and stop the chain of events from taking place that turned John Brown into Gadget. If he had never become Claw, if Gadget had never been rebuilt as a cyborg, what would John Brown be doing now, still working as a security guard? Or maybe he made it into the police force, just like he dreamed of doing. Perhaps they would all have different, but happier lives if he could erase the sins of the past...

His guilt weighed heavy as he thought about the secret he was keeping from Riley.

This was supposed to be a new start, as father and son, and to keep such a secret from him was almost unbearable – but he knew if he was to access the time machine, he would have to do it secretly.

_There was no chance of Quimby allowing him to try it out._

_He would have to call on some of his bad old ways – dishonesty, deceit...but it would be worth it if he could go back and change everything, and save Gadget's life._

His blood boiled at the thought that back in the past, Jax Wilberforce was alive and well and while the younger Sanford Scolex was planning to break into the laboratory owned by Brenda's father, and steal the robotic foot that would hold the key to the future of robotic design, Jax would have been counting the money after the explosion he had caused at his factory, he would be on the brink of setting up his big business that would eventually lead to the Waking Dreams facility and the events that followed...

_He had to be stopped._

_In that moment, Sanford knew beyond all doubt that if it was his fate to have blood on his hands, it would be the blood of Jax Wilberforce instead of Artemus Bradford..._

"Are you okay?" Riley asked, wondering why his father had become silent, his steely gaze fixed on nothing as he became lost in his own thoughts.

Sanford looked back at his son.

"I was just thinking about Gadget," he replied, "I want to see him."

Then he fell silent once more, guilt still weighing heavy as he said no more and his thoughts turned once again to the time machine, to changing the past and most of all, to the murder of Jax Wilberforce...

* * *

Bess made her way up to Brenda's office just after mid day.

She walked in and sat down and as Brenda shot her a surprised look, she began to explain.

"I know I said I was going home but when you said Gadget had improved I wanted to come back and see him as soon as he wakes up."

"I checked on him ten minutes ago, he's still sleeping. You can go and sit with him if you want to – Penny and Scolex are on their way over in an hour, so he's going to have a few visitors today. You must remind him he has to rest. The pump's working well and as long as it continues to work, he will remain stable. But it's not forever, Bess. The signs are good, he's coping well. He could live maybe a few months like this. Perhaps longer – or not. I don't have all the answers."

Bess slowly nodded.

She had done her crying, her sobbing, alone at home away from Gadget, and now she was here to be strong for him. Remembering the fact that she was qualified in cybernetics gave her a huge boost – he would be coming home to someone who was highly trained, who could look after him properly...

"Actually I came to speak to you about something else."

Brenda couldn't think what it could be; Gadget was seriously injured and unlikely to ever fully recover, and Bess had something _else_ on her mind?

"What is it?" Brenda asked her.

Bess took in a breath and as she spoke, there was no hint of hesitation in her voice. Her eyes were fixed with determination; she had thought about the situation and knew what she wanted to do about it:

"I want to have the cosmetic body work done. The implants would take too long, the recovery time would be a while and I have to stay strong for Gadget. So I won't have the implants. But I want the cosmetic mods. I want them done as soon as possible so I look the way he dreams of seeing me – I want to do it while we can both enjoy the outcome of that, before it's too late."

Brenda stared at her.

"Are you _sure_ about this? Because you will be taking a huge step that can't be reversed and if the worst happens –"

Bess blinked back tears and held back from weeping.

_"If I permanently change my appearance and Gadget dies, what of it? I get to live the rest of my life the way he dreamed of seeing me look. I won't regret it. Every time I look in the mirror I'll remember I became the woman of his dreams. And I want some time to share those dreams with him."_

Brenda turned back to the screen at her desk and checked some timetables and appointments.

"Gadget doesn't come home for two more days," she reminded her, "And he's going to need you to care of him. He has to rest."

"But recovery time for my procedure is only eight hours – it's a _cosmetic _treatment, Brenda!"

"And it's not so long ago you had the heart and lung upgrade. I know you're over that now but you could still use some rest, this isn't leaving much time between the two procedures."

Bess looked at her pleadingly.

"I just want to do this for Gadget. Please, these were our plans before the accident and I want to give him what he wants, it would mean so much to him."

Brenda looked at her thoughtfully.

"This is a permanent procedure. There's no going back once it's done. This is for the rest of your life, Bess."

"I know," she replied, "And it would mean a lot to me and Gadget."

Brenda looked back at the screen, studying appointment times.

"Please?" Bess said again.

"I wanted you to think for a long time about this before you did something so permanent to your appearance," she replied, "I would hate to do this for you and then one day you regret it. Are you _sure_ this is what you want?"

"Of course I am."

Brenda glanced back at the screen and keyed in some details.

"Gadget's going home in two day's time. You need to be there to take care of him."

"I know that but I need to do this, too! It means so much to both of us – it will mean so much to Gadget, there's not much time and I want him to see me the way he dreams of! Can't you understand that?"

Brenda looked back at her, and the expression in her eyes had softened.

"I've booked you in for the cosmetic work at nine am tomorrow morning. You'll be over the procedure by the afternoon and able to take Gadget home the next day."

Gratitude shone in her eyes as Bess smiled at Brenda.

"Thank you so much!"

"As long as you're sure. I'll understand if you change your mind."

Bess got up.

"I won't change my mind, I want to do this," she replied, and then she left the room.

As Brenda turned back to the computer and looked at the appointment slot she had made for Bess, she hoped she was right about her being sure – she was about to undergo cosmetic cybernetic work that would radically alter her appearance forever, and right now it seemed Bess wasn't thinking long term, only about the short time she had left with Gadget.

"_I hope you're sure about this,"_ she said quietly, as she wondered if Bess would one day regret her decision.

* * *

Taylor Braydon sat in his office at Braydon Industries and gave a sigh.

"Maybe I should go back over there. I want to see Gadget."

He reached for the phone but Emma got there first, sliding it out of his reach.

"No, Taylor! Let him rest! He's been very weak but now he's getting stronger. He _has_ to rest. Why don't we wait until he's back home, and then visit him? I'm sure he'll have Bess and Penny and Sanford going to see him, he doesn't need us too, not yet! It's too much for the guy."

Sadness reflected in Taylor's eyes.

"I just want to know how he's doing."

"And you called the cybernetics center this morning! Leave Gadget alone, Taylor! Go and see him when he's feeling a little better. It makes sense to wait."

Taylor shrugged.

"I guess you're right."

"You _know _I am.

Taylor had grabbed a pen and started tapping it on his desk.

"Stop doing that!" she scolded, and took it away from him.

"I'm bored, I'm worried about Gadget, _and_ I have nothing to do this morning..."

Taylor was sliding into a sulk.

"Why don't you go up to the lab and see how Kramer and the others are getting on with the time machine?" she suggested.

He gave another sigh and folded his arms, tipping his chair back and rocking on it like a bored kid.

"_I don't like the time machine."_

Emma blinked.

"What?"

"I don't _like _the time machine!" he repeated, "It's boring! I was excited when I first heard about it, but I was expecting it to be a DeLorean or even a phone booth...but it's just this crummy set of panels and all this wiring. It's a _crappy_ looking time machine! _I don't want to play with it_."

Emma smiled, once again reminded of all the reasons why she loved her sweet, not too bright husband so very much.

"It doesn't matter if it doesn't look like something out of the movies – it's a _time machine_, a _real_ one!"

Taylor shrugged.

"But it doesn't _look_ like one. It's boring."

"And stop rocking on that chair," Emma reminded him.

"I like rocking," he replied, and rocked harder, then the chair tipped and for a split second Taylor's long legs were in the air, followed by a thump as he hit the carpet.

"_Ouch!"_ he whined from somewhere behind his desk.

As Emma made a move to help him up, he grabbed the desk and pulled himself back to his feet.

"I'm not hurt," he told her, righting the chair and sitting down again.

Emma gave a weary sigh.

"I'd get you one of those swivel chairs but the last time –"

"I spun on it too hard and threw up," Taylor reminded her, "My fault. I shouldn't have been spinning so fast just after lunchtime!"

Emma shook her head.

Taylor started rocking on his chair again.

"_Stop it!"_

"Sorry," he said, and then he reached across the desk and grabbed the phone.

"I'll just call the cybernetics center one more time to check Gadget really is okay," he told her, "Maybe if the pump's working well I can get some of my people to work on an even more effective pump. Then maybe Gadget could live for years."

He fell silent for a moment, and then looked at Emma with sorrow in his eyes.

"_I want my friend to live forever."_

"I know you do," she replied, "We all want him to get better."

Taylor smiled as he made the call to the cybernetics center.

"That's my plan now!" he announced, "I'll find a cure for Gadget!"

And Emma smiled too. She wished her kind hearted husband would accept the truth that nothing more could be done for Gadget, but as long as Taylor had something to hope for, he had a reason to be happy...

* * *

Gadget had just woken up from a long, deep sleep and he smiled as he saw Bess at his bedside.

"Two days from now I'm taking you home, honey," she told him as she gave his hand a squeeze.

"That's the only place I want to be," he replied, "I just want to be at home with you, I want us to be together all the time. I know when I was working I was always on duty but now I don't want to lose a single minute."

"I feel the same," she replied, and as she ached with the need to cry, she held it back, remembering he needed her to be strong.

"I think you'll live for a long time, Gadget," she told him as she looked into his eyes, "You're a strong person and the pump's working well, there's no reason to think otherwise. And I'm a cybernetic surgeon – you couldn't wish for a more qualified person to be taking care of you."

Gadget smiled.

"Lucky for me I have a thing about lady doctors," he remarked.

"I'll certainly be checking you over when I get you home," she told him softly, "As long as you rest there's no reason why we can't get intimate as long as I'm gentle with you."

Warmth shone in his eyes as he tightened his grip on her hand.

"You will never know how thankful I am that we met. You're amazing, Bess."

Then his smile faded and the look in his eyes was replaced by one of pain.

"Does it put you off me to know that I'm..." he paused. He knew the facts and had accepted them in his own way on his own terms, but it was still hard to say.

"Does it put you off," he said again, this time in a hushed voice, "I mean, does it put you off me to know that I'm dying?"

"No!" Bess exclaimed, and once again it took all of her strength not to cry.

"You're still the man I fell in love with – you don't look any different, you're still Gadget!"

He managed to smile as he indicated to the slender silver tubes that ran down the side of his neck.

"But this looks horrible, right?"

Bess smiled too as she shook her head and leaned closer, running her hand over his hair and then sweeping a gentle touch down the side of his neck and over the metal tubes.

"It just looks like some fancy pipe work," she promised him.

Her reply came as a great relief.

"I'm glad you feel that way," he told her, "I keep looking at it and wondering if you'll think of what's wrong with me every time you see it."

"I just see you," Bess promised him, "I see the heavily modified cyborg who I'm in love with."

And she moved closer, kissed him, and then sat back again, thinking about her surprise.

"BY the way, I've got it moved forward, so I can get it out of the way and go home and take care of you."

"Moved what forward?" Gadget asked.

"The cosmetic work," she told him, "I can't have the implants because that's got a long recovery time – but I can have the external work done. I'm booked in to have it carried out tomorrow morning. And then I'll look like the woman of your dreams."

Emotion overcame him as he looked back at Bess.

She had not had an easy time of it since they had fallen in love – being the girlfriend of Riverton's finest crime fighter had meant she had seen him go through much in recent times, because peril was a part of his life. When Claw had become a reformed man and turned his back on crime, Gadget had dared to allow himself to think that Riverton would remain at peace. He had not expected Jax to come along with his dreaming facility and cause trouble – he had certainly never imagined the quietly spoken man in the tinted glasses would be the reason he was here, recovering from injuries that would eventually kill him because Jax had chosen to blow up the Riverton Bridge...

Bess had suffered so much heartbreak because she chose to be with him, because she decided to be the lover of Inspector Gadget, and to take on all the risk his life involved.

Even now, when it seemed the end was coming, she was determined to carry on with their plans and make his dreams come true.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her.

She gave his hand a squeeze and smiled.

"I'm absolutely sure, Gadget. I'm doing this for us. It doesn't matter how long you have – while you're around, I'll make sure nothing gets in the way of our happiness."

Her words lifted him out of his sadness as he smiled and joy shone in his eyes.

"I can't wait to see what you look like after you've had the metal work done, you'll have to take me home tomorrow because I need to get you alone and –"

"No, you'll have to wait," she reminded him, "Brenda said two more days. She's right. You need to rest. And I want to surprise you. So I'll see you when you come home. Then we can make the most of my new look."

Gadget was still smiling.

"Believe me when I say you've just given me the will to live!" he exclaimed, "I may not last forever but I'll be a happy man!"

And suddenly his eyes darkened with intensity as he drew her slower.

"Come here, sit next to me...let me look at you."

Bess sat on the edge of his bed and he studied her face, ran his hands over her hair and watched as sunlight caught on red streaks, then he ran his fingers through it and finally pressed his face against it, inhaling the scent of her shoulder length hair one last time.

"What are you doing?" she whispered as he embraced her.

"It _is_ beautiful. I love your hair, I just wanted to touch it one last time before tomorrow."

And he slid his fingertips down a silky strand and toyed with it as he watched the light bring out shades of auburn.

"Want me to keep some?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want me to keep a lock of my hair so you can remember what it used to be like?"

Gadget ran his fingers through her soft hair again.

"No, "he told her, "I just want to see you with the new modifications and run my hands all over you. But you can keep some if you like, did you want to?"

She shook her head.

"I don't need reminders of how I used to look. I just want to see the new me, Gadget."

_"So do I,"_ he said fondly as he gazed into her eyes, _"I'll be dreaming about this until I get home. I can't wait to see you all smooth with the metal plating blended into your skin..."_

Then the door opened and he let go of her.

Bess sat down and they exchanged a secret smile as Penny and Sanford walked in.

* * *

Penny dashed over to his bedside and hugged her Uncle tightly and kissed his cheek.

"I've been _so_ worried about you!" she said anxiously, "But Brenda told me the pump's working much better than they first thought, that's such good news."

"I'm going home in a couple of days," he told her, "I'll be okay as long as I rest."

And he squeezed her hand as he smiled at Bess.

"Bess will be looking after me, so you don't have to worry, Penny."

"I think I'll _never_ stop worrying about you now!" Penny replied.

Then Sanford pulled up a chair and took a seat at the other side of Gadget's bed.

"How are you?" he said in a hushed voice.

Gadget caught a look in his eyes that carried so much anguish that it seemed he was struggling to hold back his tears.

"The pump is working," he reminded him, "It's working better than Brenda expected it to. I'm losing fluid but at a very slow rate and while it stays that way I can carry on. So it's not _all_ bad news."

And then he smiled as he took hold of his girlfriend's hand.

"I _really _want to tell them. I want to tell everyone."

And Bess blushed and giggled.

"Oh Gadget, no! I feel shy all of a sudden!"

Amusement danced in his eyes as he laughed.

"Okay – _I'll_ make the big announcement..."

Penny looked at her Uncle in surprise; he was seriously injured and his cyborg body was beyond total repair. Yet he and Bess were giggling like a pair of love struck teenagers...

"What's going on?" Penny wondered.

"Bess is getting some work done tomorrow. She's getting some _very_ heavy cosmetic mods – cybernetic plating work. She's going to look amazing, I'm so excited and so proud of her!"

"Wow," Penny said, forcing a smile as she realized this news was at least distracting her Uncle from him the seriousness of his condition.

Then Gadget began to explain what the finished result would look like.

Sanford Scolex barely heard a word of the conversation as he sat there watching his closest friend smiling and talking about Bess and the modifications like nothing was wrong. His heart ached to the point where he felt it was about to break because Gadget was living on borrowed time.

As he remained silent his resolve strengthened:

_He_ _would carry out his plan, no matter how devious he had to be – he would break into the lab, use the time machine and go back and change everything, and even if he went back to jail for it, he would carry little regret for his actions, because there was only one way to save Gadget – and that was to go back and find his younger self before he did any harm, and stop him from ever becoming Claw..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: Just a quick mention that this chapter briefly contains a conversation regarding light fem slash.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Brenda Bradford arrived at work early the next morning.

She walked into her office with her thoughts filled with concern for Bess, who was taking a big step by rushing into the modification process. She didn't doubt that her choices had been affected by Gadget's situation – of course she wanted to speed it up and give him everything he dreamed of, because she knew his time was limited – but she felt sure Bess had not given her decision a great deal of careful consideration.

But that decision lay with Bess – her reasons were no one else's business...

Then the phone rang and she picked it up, wondering if Bess had changed her mind.

"_Hi, is that Brenda Bradford? I'm at the airport –"_

Brenda's jaw dropped.

"What are you doing at the airport? You're not supposed to be out of bed yet!"

"Well if I didn't get out of bed, I wouldn't have caught my flight..."

"You should be in bed, Gadget!" she said in a shocked voice.

There was a pause.

"Gadget?" he repeated, "Have we got a crossed line here?"

Brenda gripped the phone harder.

"I don't know what you're up to, but you need to get over here and let me put you to bed!"

"What?" he wondered.

"I want you in bed, right now!" Brenda told him sharply.

"Excuse me?" he said, "I _am_ speaking to Brenda Bradford? This _is_ the Riverton Cybernetics Center?"

"You know it is!" she replied, "Gadget, what's wrong with you?"

"Why do you keep calling me Gadget?" he asked her.

"Because I _know _you, I've known you for more than fifteen years!"

There was another pause, and then the caller laughed.

"Dr Bradford, I'm _not_ Inspector Gadget. I'm Dr Felix Todd. I grabbed an early flight. I can't wait to see the time machine over at Braydon Industries tomorrow. Will I be meeting you there?"

Brenda was stunned Felix sounded so much like Gadget. Not similar, but _exactly_ like Gadget...

"I have a patient to treat today, and I'm still observing Inspector Gadget. He's not out of here until tomorrow. _Maybe_ I can get over to Taylor's lab when Gadget goes home. He's been through a lot –"

"I heard about it on the news," Felix replied, "Your cyborg Inspector was almost killed when the bridge blew up... how's he doing?"

"We've fitted him with a pumping system to handle the leaking cable. It won't fix the problem forever but it's keeping him alive for now."

"I'll take a look at the damage. I have your email, I'll get over to the hotel and then I'll message your office. You can send the details back to me. It can't hurt to take a look. I won't be over to Braydon Industries until four pm."

"Thanks," Brenda said quietly.

She didn't know Felix, but his offer of help meant a lot to her - and she was sure the fact that his voice was identical to Gadget's had something to do with it.

"Hopefully we can meet tomorrow," he added, "I'm looking forward to seeing this time machine."

"So am I." she replied.

"Catch you later, "he said, and ended the call.

Brenda shook her head, still feeling surprised that Felix sounded just like Gadget.

And then a nurse knocked on her door.

"Yes?" Brenda said.

"Bess Nightingale's ready in the treatment room," she told her.

"Fine," Brenda replied, "Set up the OR and get the liquid metal ready. Tell her I'll be through to see her in five minutes."

* * *

Bess sat alone in a small room that seemed cluttered with equipment. It had never seemed cluttered before but she was sitting in a reclining seat in the middle of the room and starting to feel overwhelmed by everything she was about to face.

_Then she thought of Gadget._

His situation was far removed from her own; she was doing this through choice – Gadget had no choice in the fact that his life now depended on a pump inside his body that would eventually fail.

That perspective shoved her nervousness aside.

Then Brenda came into the room. She was still in her lab coat and she brought a tray over to the chair and Bess glanced at the contents and then looked away again.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Brenda asked her.

Bess nodded.

"I just want to get it over with," she replied.

"Okay, "Brenda said, "I'm going to cut off your hair and then apply the scalp treatment. After that I'll take you through to the OR and you'll be unconscious for around forty minutes while the metal work is set into your skin. The recovery time is around seven hours and then you can go home."

Bess took in a slow breath.

"Brenda..."

Dr Bradford draped a towel around her shoulders.

"What is it?" she asked carefully, wondering if Bess was about to change her mind.

But Bess glanced at her and asked a question.

"Did you check the design I want? It has to be like Cindi's. That's what we want."

"Yes I did," she told her, "I don't want you to worry about anything – it's going to look exactly like her metal work."

"That's what I want it to look like," she replied.

Then Bess fell silent as Brenda swept up her shoulder length hair and tied it in a ponytail.

Bess tensed as she saw Brenda pick up the scissors from the tray, and as she opened the parted blades and began to cut through her hair, she felt the urge to get up, to stop it from happening – but instead, as the blades closed and her hair fell to the floor, she took in a deep breath and forced herself to let go of her tension, remembering how much she wanted to do this, how much she wanted Gadget to see her transformation. That was more important now than ever before, because time could be short and she wanted to make the most of every moment with him before it was too late.

The blades slid closer to her scalp and as they closed, and then cut again, more of her hair fell away and Bess watched as it began to gather on the towel draped about her shoulders.

She thought about the silver strip of metal that ran down the center of her chest and remembered she now had a titanium heart – she was becoming a cyborg on the inside and it seemed only right that it reflected on the outside too. And she knew it was what Gadget wanted her to do.

As Brenda put the scissors down, Bess spoke up.

"Is it short enough yet?"

"Not quite, I have to shave it down very close," she replied.

Bess heard a click and a low hum as Brenda switched on a small battery operated razor.

"We're almost there," she told her, and as the blades began to buzz through her cropped hair, it felt surprisingly painless.

Brenda worked quickly to shave her hair down close to her scalp. When she turned off the razor she paused, removing the towel from her shoulders and replacing it with a fresh one.

"It's not too late to change your mind," she said, "Once the chemical treatment goes on, its permanent. You can still change your mind at this point."

"I won't change my mind," Bess replied, "This is what I want."

"Okay," Brenda said, "I just wanted to remind you this is a permanent modification."

She said nothing in reply as Brenda reclined the chair and paused to put on surgical gloves.

Bess closed her eyes and thought about the way Gadget had whispered to her about all the things he dreamed of sharing with her when her flesh was bonded with metal. The thought almost made her smile but then as the chemical lotion was applied to her cropped hair she took in a sharp breath as her scalp felt tight and began to heat up rapidly.

"It's burning," she said, "Not too much, though...I can handle it..."

Then she fell silent as Brenda finished applying the treatment.

"I'm going to wash it off with a very strong spray of water," Brenda told her, "It will come off easier if we give it a few more minutes, it needs to dry out. It's almost there."

Her scalp was tightening even more as the burning seemed to sink into her skin.

"I can't wait for you to wash it off," she replied, "I just hope it's worked – I really want that metal work done today."

Brenda looked at the white mixture that had turned to drying powder on her head.

"It's worked," she told her, "It worked from the moment I applied it. There's no going back now."

"My hair's gone?" Bess said, her voice a mixture of shock and surprise.

"It's definitely gone," Brenda replied. "Now hold still, I need to wash the treatment off."

As the jet of water hit her scalp, Bess gave a gasp. The water hit her with force and seemed to tear through the heavy paste that was dried tight to her scalp. But the water washed it away, taking the burning sensation with it, and she breathed out easily as coolness replaced the discomfort.

"It's all done?" she asked.

Brenda gently dried her bare skin and then raised the chair once more.

"Yes, it's done," she told her, "I'm going to check the OR's ready and then I'm taking you in to get the metal plating inserted."

Then Brenda walked out of the room.

Bess sat there for a moment and felt relieved that the discomfort was over. She guessed she would feel sore when she woke up with the sleek strips of metal fixed to her scalp and running down her back. But like Brenda had said, the recovery would be rapid.

Bess cautiously reached up. It felt strange not to tangle her fingers in her hair; she reached higher and still felt nothing.

Then as her fingertips touched her smooth scalp, she caught her breath:

_This was permanent... _

Bess slowly turned her head and as she caught sight of her reflection in a small mirror on the wall, she stared at the sight of her smooth, hairless head that didn't even have a shadow left behind because the treatment had removed every trace of follicle. Tears stung her eyes, but only briefly as she remembered why she was doing this.

It was what they _both_ wanted, and that mattered now more than ever.

Bess ran her hand gently over smooth, soft skin, pictured the metal plating and the finished result and suddenly felt stronger:  
Brenda was right, there was no turning back now.

And as she looked at her reflection and pictured that finished result, she felt glad she was going through with it, because it was just what Gadget wanted and the more she thought about it, the more she realized it was exactly what she wanted, too...

* * *

Sanford Scolex had walked into Braydon Industries with no real plan other than to get into the lab and see enough to figure out how the time machine worked. But as he made his way down the corridor towards the lab, he stopped abruptly.

_"Damn!"_ he fumed, spotting the armed guards outside the door.

And then someone said his name.

Sanford turned and smiled.

Kramer was standing behind him, and his timing couldn't have been better...

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and then a flash of worry came to the scientist's eyes, "If Riley's had problems with the implant I'm _not _getting involved again!"

"No, Riley's fine!" Sanford replied, "You did a splendid job, Kramer." And then he added, "I'll always be grateful for your help. And I was wondering if I could ask a small favor..."

"Oh no, what is it this time?"

Kramer had asked the question as if he was expecting to be dragged into more trouble.

_"It's no big deal,"_ Sanford replied, _"I'd just like to see the time machine."_

Kramer's eyes widened.

"The time machine?" he said nervously, "But I'm not supposed to let anyone in, only qualified staff are allowed access –"

The look in Sanford's eyes had hardened.

_"I just want to see it,"_ he repeated.

Kramer gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'll let you in for five minutes. But that's all – the lab's locked up and empty for the next twenty minutes. I want you in and out before I get in trouble!"

And Sanford smiled as he walked towards the lab.

As they walked on, Kramer shook his head.

"_Why_ do I always give in to you?" he complained, and then paused at the door to speak to the guards.

"He's with me," he said, indicating to Scolex, and then he unlocked the door and they went inside.

* * *

Bess woke up feeling stiff and sore.

A pain was radiating down her back and as she shifted slightly she gave a gasp.

"Why is it hurting so much?" she said, blinking to clear blurred vision and looking up at Brenda, who was standing next to her bed.

"It's the rapid healing process. You've had layers of tissue removed and replaced with liquid metal; you have to expect some pain for the first few hours."

"I can't move!" she exclaimed.

"That won't last for long. And it went very well, the plates are set exactly the way you wanted them."

Bess took a deep breath as she tried to ignore the soreness in her back.

"I can't wait to see it," she replied, but as Brenda adjusted her pain relief, Bess slipped back into a deep sleep.

Brenda looked down at her, thinking how different Bess looked now she was a combination of smooth skin and sleek metal:

Two slender strips of metal ran through her scalp and joined together at the back of her neck, snaking down her spine like a steel serpent.

She couldn't deny from a cosmetic point of view, for those who found cybernetic modification exciting, Bess would be considered very beautiful. She didn't doubt that Gadget would be thrilled with the result, too. But she wondered how Bess would feel if the leaking cable worsened and Gadget died – she would be stuck in a cyborg body that had been the ideal of her dead lover, and would have to live with that forever...

Then Brenda cancelled those thoughts as she walked out of the room - Gadget was still alive and coping well with the pumping system. There was no reason to think he would be gone any time soon. But all the same, the fact that the damaged cable meant one day his death would be inevitable made her heart ache.

She tried not to dwell on such feelings as she walked up the corridor and into Gadget's room.

He was sitting up in bed watching TV and grabbed the remote and turned it off as she came in.

"How's Bess?"

Brenda smiled.

"She's recovering and will be out of here in a few hours. I know she wants it to be a surprise when you get home, but I will tell you this – you'll love the finished result. She looks very beautiful with it, too."

She caught a flicker of excitement in Gadget's eyes as he started to smile.

"Wowser! I can't wait to get home and see for myself!"

"You'll be going home tomorrow," she promised him, "I just hope you rest like I told you to."

Gadget was still smiling as he thought of Bess and her new robotic look.

"I think I can safely say I won't be getting out of bed."

"And take things easy!" she reminded him.

"I'll try," he replied.

Brenda looked into his eyes.

"Gadget, I don't want to spoil your fun, but you have to remember that you need to rest."

His smiled faded.

"I know. Bess said she thinks we should be okay if we take things slowly."

"Very slowly," she replied, "You have to be careful, Gadget."

The sparkle returned to his eyes as he thought about going home to Bess and running his hands over soft flesh blended into metal.

"I'll try to take it easy," he promised her, "And if I don't and the worst happens, I can think of worse ways to go!"

And he laughed, but soon stopped as he saw the worried look on Brenda's face.

"Okay!" he told her, "I'll take it easy!"

"You'd better," Brenda replied, "Just because you feel okay doesn't mean you are okay. You have to remember that."

Gadget gave a sigh.

"Yes, Dr Bradford. I will keep it in mind."

Then as Brenda left the room, Gadget thought of Bess and their reunion the next day, and started to smile again. It was crazy to think that he was so seriously damaged, yet had never felt so alive before...

* * *

Sanford stood in the lab and looked at the equipment that had been set up in the middle of the room:

Two large panels were facing each other, both had a blurred, metallic gleam to them and many wires ran from both panels into a large box beside it. There was a small control panel built into a separate raised keypad at the other side of the machine, below that a screen and another keypad.

"This is it?" he said, "It doesn't look like much to me!"

"It's definitely the real thing," Kramer replied, "And it uses a tremendous amount of electricity. If someone were to step in there and key in the date and time of destination into the top keypad, and then add their composition into the lower one, after the device scans the traveller, that red button on the top of the upper panel activates the power."

Sanford studied the controls, his gaze fixed on the second panel as he asked a question.

"What do you mean, the _composition_ of the traveller?"

"Apparently it's designed for cyborg use," Kramer replied, "But of course, we don't know the exact specifics and it's a long way off from testing for safety reasons. That's why we need some top cybernetics people to come and check it over. But the level of composition seems to start at thirty percent, so anyone with thirty percent modification or over could, in theory, use the machine safely – as far as we know."

A sly smile spread across Sanford's face as he thought about his artificial hand and the wiring in his body that had been implanted to replace tissue after he had been Gadget's donor.

"Thirty percent...that's interesting, I'm _thirty five_ percent cyborg..."

Kramer missed the meaning of his remark by a mile.

"So, have you seen enough?"

Sanford smiled brightly.

"More than enough - thank you so much, Kramer. You'll never know how helpful you've been!"

"Well, it's nice to know I was able to show you something so exciting," Kramer replied as he turned back towards the door.

Then he stopped, searching his pockets and glancing around the lab.

"Oh no, where did I put my ID card? It's my pass for the lab..."

"No idea," Sanford replied as he slipped the stolen pass from the table behind him into his pocket, "I'm sure it will turn up."

"I hope so," Kramer said as they left the lab, "Taylor won't be too pleased to know I lost that!"

"Thanks for showing me around," Sanford added, "it's been interesting."

Then he leaned on his cane and walked towards the elevator with a spark of triumph in his eyes:  
_His plan was underway now he had the key to the lab – all he had to figure out next was when to go back and use the machine..._

* * *

Bess was ready to leave the cybernetics center by late afternoon.

As she finished getting dressed, Brenda came into the room and Bess turned to her excitedly.

"I really want to go and show Gadget my new look – but I can't. I want to wait until he's home. I don't want to make him excited while he's still recovering!"

Brenda smiled.

"He's certainly excited. He can't wait to get out of here and back home to you! Make sure he takes things easy."

"I will," she promised her.

As Brenda looked at Bess, it suddenly dawned on her that her new look actually suited her.

Bess ran her hand over her head, sweeping fingertips over smooth skin and gleaming metal.

"What do you think?"

"Actually it looks good. It's not a look many people could carry off so well but it suits you."

"I knew it would," she replied, and then she laughed.

"I can't wait to see the reaction when I go back to work!"

"You'll certainly get a few stares. You could always hide it. The work on your back and the seam down your chest can be hidden easily enough. And Cindi hides her scalp work all the time, she wears a wig."

Bess shook her head.

"I'm keeping my blouse like this," she said, indicating to the open buttons that stopped just short of revealing too much cleavage but gave a glimpse of the metal that ran down her breastbone, "And no wigs, either – I'm proud of the work I've had done."

Then she smiled and her eyes sparkled as she confided a secret:

"_Besides, Gadget wants me to show it off all the time."_

Brenda smiled too.

"I'll bet he does! I'm sure he loves that idea!"

"He does!" Bess told her, "He said he'd be constantly excited to think of me walking around looking like a beautiful cybernetic combination of flesh and metal."

Brenda was still smiling as she shook her head.

"And to think, I used to date that man! It could have been me – I'm so glad it wasn't, I think mods look great on other people but its _definitely_ not for me."

Happiness sparkled in her eyes as Bess put on her jacket and prepared to leave.

"You don't know what you're missing!" she exclaimed, "Tell Gadget I'll see him tomorrow."

"I'm driving him back home in the morning, a round ten am," Brenda told her, "Then I have to get over to Braydon Industries and check out the time machine."

"I wish they'd asked me to do it!" Bess replied, and then she remembered Gadget needed her at home.

"But Gadget's more important," she added, "I want to take care of him, even when his condition gets worse."

Sadness briefly clouded her eyes as she thought about the future.

"I'm keeping him at home, Brenda. I'm more than capable of caring for him when his condition deteriorates. I don't want anyone else looking after him, can you understand that?"

Brenda nodded.

"Of course I do. And you're more than qualified. I can understand that. Have you discussed this with him?"

"Yes, he told me it's what he wants."

She blinked as her eyes glazed over.

"He said he wants to die in my arms."

Brenda felt like crying too as she heard those words, but instead she shifted the conversation to another subject as she reached out to Bess, and brushed a fingertip over a sleek metal plate that ran across the top of head.

"That's a really great look, I can understand why Gadget finds it so attractive. He's full of metal on the inside and you have it on the outside. And it feels so smooth, too –"

Bess giggled.

"Don't..." she said as she started to blush.

Now a look of amusement came back to Brenda's eyes.

"What have I said now? Good grief, Bess! I can only imagine what goes on in Gadget's mind..."

Bess lowered her voice.

"He did say to me a while back, when we were talking about me having the mods, that he could picture you running your hands over my skin and the plating and..."

She giggled again.

"And what?" Brenda asked.

"And him watching us..._make out_ a little bit!"

Brenda had a smile on her face as she shook her head.

"I know it's common for heavily modified cyborgs to have little kinks for others with modifications – and sometimes for people who work in the field, too...but Gadget's got just about every aspect of it! He's dated two cybernetic surgeons and got you into modification and now he's fantasizing about watching _us?_"

Now it was Brenda's turn to giggle.

"He's unbelievable!"

And then she looked at Bess, who had undergone such a dramatic transformation, and pushed the process through quickly because of the seriousness of Gadget's condition.

She thought about it some more.

"Maybe we _could_ make his dream come true. I mean, just a _little_ bit."

And she laughed again as her face heated up.

"I don't mean anything heavy – just a little bit of light flirting, a kiss... I think he'd like that."

"Like it?" Bess exclaimed, "He'd _love_ it!"

And the two women laughed again.

Bess glanced back at Brenda as she reached the door.

"I'll call you later. We can figure something out for tomorrow when he comes home."

"Okay!" Brenda said, then as Bess walked away she laughed again, as she wondered how she had ever got herself into this situation – but if it made Gadget smile, that was good enough for her...

* * *

Brenda had left the facility early and gone home shortly after Bess had left.

As she closed the front door and kicked off her shoes, her phone beeped.

She gave a sigh.

"No, _not_ more work!" she exclaimed, checking her messages as she walked through to the kitchen.

She took a wine glass from the cupboard and then a bottle from the fridge and read the message on her phone:

It was from the cybernetics center to tell her Dr Felix Todd need to contact her immediately via video link.

She gave another sigh as she thought about the pressure that was being put on her to work on the time machine, when all she wanted to do was concentrate on helping Gadget.

And then she saw the rest of his message:

_'Subject Re: Inspector Gadget – possible solution.'_

Brenda poured a glass of wine and took a sip, then stood by the table and opened up a laptop and keyed in the link to Felix Todd as she kept her eyes fixed on the screen.

The call was going through.

As she waited for it to be answered, her heart was racing:

_He had a possible solution? What did that mean, a cure?_

Then the screen cleared and she saw a plush hotel room in the background. He pulled out a chair and then leaned away from the camera as he sorted through notes.

"Hi Dr Bradford," he said, and again it struck her that his voice was exactly like Gadget's.

"You can call me Brenda," she replied, "So tell me, what's this about? You can fix the problem? You can fix the cable?"

All she saw of him was a white shirt as he leaned out of focus and searched through more paperwork.

"Yeah, I think so – a while back I was working with a team on the space program, working on a way to fix damage to space vessels – obviously a hole in a space vessel is a _serious_ problem – fifteen percent or more oxygen deprivation and the environment might as well be a vacuum. Hypoxia and death in a matter of seconds. So we came up with a solution that seals a second skin over metal and stays tough enough to fill scratches and minor cracks that could become lethal if left untreated. I also designed the Spider – it's a device that runs over the outer shell of a vessel and covers the cracks with the solution. But we're not talking about that, I'm thinking maybe a solution that works on space vessels might work on Gadget's main cable. What do you think, Brenda? If it's okay with you I can have a vial of the solution sent over to Riverton."

"Yes, thank you so much! That's got to be worth a try!" she said in surprise, as hope suddenly replaced despair as she thought of Gadget.

Then Felix put the paperwork aside and adjusted the camera. He looked into the lens and smiled.

"I'm glad I can help," he told her.

And Brenda stared at the screen.

Her jaw dropped around the same time she lost her grip on the wine glass and it fell to the floor and shattered.

She was still staring at the screen:

He didn't just have Gadget's voice.

He had his blue eyes, his smile; everything about him was identical...

_Felix had Gadget's face..._

"Is everything okay?" he asked her.

Then he laughed, recalling her previous misunderstanding.

"I hope you're not getting confused again and ordering me to bed, Brenda! Because I'm wide awake and looking forward to getting to work on the time machine. Will I see you over at Braydon Industries tomorrow?"

She blinked and carried on staring.

"Braydon Industries? What?"

"The time machine?" he wondered.

"Oh...yes, I'll be over tomorrow. I'm driving Inspector Gadget home and then I'll probably be over to the lab around eleven or maybe after lunch."

"Here's my number," Felix replied, typing a message out, "Call me when you're on your way over."

Brenda was still staring at him. He didn't just look like Gadget, he _was_ Gadget – yet Felix Todd had no link to the Inspector. John Brown was not a twin. _But this man looked like his mirror image..._

"Are you okay Brenda?" Felix asked.

She forced a smile and nodded.

"Yes...I'm fine. See you tomorrow."

And she quickly cut off the call, looked down at the broken glass and then stepped over it, grabbing the wine and taking a swig from the bottle before putting it back in the fridge.

"_He looks just like Gadget!"_ she said aloud, still stunned at the thought that looking at Felix was just like looking at the Inspector.

* * *

Brenda sat down at the table, and stayed there in silence for quite a while, feeling confused as she accessed old records via a link to the cybernetics center.

As she keyed in her access code she didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she began by searching Felix Todd in staff records.

She saw right away he was linked to cybernetic design and had worked on projects that had been linked to the Riverton center, but that had been long ago and involved technical design of computerized equipment.

"No, this isn't what I'm looking for..." she murmured, and then she tried his link to NASA but the message flashed up that access was denied.

Brenda gave a sigh.

"Who _are_ you?" she said aloud, "How come you look just like him?"

Then she thought about the situation:

Sure, it was possible that everyone had a double somewhere in the world... but it was more than just a striking resemblance, it was as if Gadget and Felix were the same person. Even their voices were identical, although on talking to him she could tell right away as a person he was nothing like Gadget, at least their personalities were different... But that was the _only_ difference. Felix was very calm and laid back, unlike Gadget, who could be quite anxious at times.

She searched back into John Brown's records.

_He was definitely not a twin. _

_He had no brothers, either._

Brenda shook her head, feeling as if her research had hit a brick wall.

"It's one hell of a coincidence," she said aloud.

Then she went back to John Brown's records.

She pulled up a picture of him, and then placed beside it a later picture of him after his transformation into Gadget.

Brenda enhanced both photos:

It was then she noticed something she hadn't seen before – it was as if John Brown and Inspector Gadget were two different men.

In both pictures their dark hair was the same, the basic shape of their features were similar – but _not_ alike.

Before the explosion John's eyes had been brown. After, they were blue.

Then she recalled Penny had brought in some old home movies when her Uncle was recovering from the explosion. Every single one had been saved on the data base, so accessing the record was not difficult.

She watched as the scene switched to a sunny day in the park. John threw a stick as Brain's eyes lit up excitedly.

"Go on boy!" he said to the dog, "Go fetch it!"

And in the background, Penny laughed.

Then Brenda kept the recording up and searched for a later clip, she found one dated four years later as Gadget spoke into the camera to update his personal opinion of how his new body was working.

"How are you coping with your new upgrades?" Brenda heard herself ask him.

Gadget smiled.

"I'm learning to live with the glitches," he replied, "I'm working pretty good."

Then Brenda paused, looking from one recording to the other.

She thought about it, and then isolated the two audio clips and played them again.

_"Go on boy!"_ John Brown said, _"Go fetch it!"_

_"I'm learning to live with the glitches,"_ Gadget said, _"I'm working pretty good."_

Brenda shook her head.

"No..." she murmured, "I'm wrong, I _have_ to be wrong!"

She brought up a program and entered the two voice samples, running a comparison check.

They would turn out to be identical, of course, because they were samples from the same person...

The result flashed up in seconds:

Voice match: NEGATIVE

Brenda's eyes widened.

"_What the hell..."_

She called Felix at the hotel, hitting _record_ at the same time.

"Hi," he said, "What's up, Brenda?"

"I just wanted to remind you I'm not sure what time I'll be over at Braydon Industries," she replied.

"Okay, I'll see you when you get there," he replied, "Speak later..."

And the call ended.

Brenda hastily fed a sample of his voice into the audio program, adding Gadget's too, and then played both samples:

"_I'm leaning to live with glitches, I'm working pretty good,"_ Gadget said.

"_Hi, what's up, Brenda?" _Felix asked.

Brenda ran the comparison.

Again the answer came up in seconds, but this time with a different result:

Voice match: POSITIVE – 100%

She stared at the screen as she felt as if everything she thought to be the truth had just been thrown into utter confusion:

Gadget used to be John Brown, of _course_ he did, because she remembered him from before the explosion caused by Claw...

But the man who had been brought to the lab and saved by becoming the first cyborg had been a physical wreck because of his injuries. It had been weeks before she even saw his face after the bandages came off...

Then she hit on another idea and went back through Gadget's records once more.

She went through to the main computer and found a sample of John Brown's DNA, and compared it with a later sample after he had become Gadget.

Both samples matched, which confused her even more:

_DNA said John Brown and Gadget were the same man._

_Yet the voice pattern insisted Gadget was Felix Todd..._

"What is going on?" she said aloud, looking back at the picture of John Brown and then the later one of him as Gadget.

Brenda didn't know what it was, but she was missing something, it was as if the mystery was easily solvable and the answer right in front of her – but she couldn't find the final piece to the puzzle.

"_You're John!"_ she said as she looked at Gadget' picture, _"So how can you be Felix?"_

Then she shut down the program and turned off the lap top, wishing she had never run the voice recognition program, because it left her with more questions than answers – and some of those questions had implications that she didn't want to think about, and certainly didn't want to put to Gadget. He had been through enough over the years.

No one could have been the prototype and not had a difficult time with it.

But she felt sure it would devastate him if she told of all she had learned.

Brenda knew she couldn't voice her deepest fear, the thought that had hit her as soon as the matches came up negative:

_What if John Brown had died in the explosion?_

_Had he been replaced by someone else with similar injuries and passed off as John?_

If that was true, Brenda knew she couldn't tell him - _After all these years, especially now he was so weak, Gadget would not be able to accept the possibility that his past had been a carefully constructed lie..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author note: Again, this chapter contains some *light* fem slash and also some scenes with Bess and Gadget (regarding her body mods) that some may consider erotic**

* * *

Chapter 3

As Gadget sat in the passenger seat he looked at Brenda and smiled.

"It feels so good to be going home," he said as he looked out the window at the bright sunrise that was glowing in a blue sky, sending golden rays over Riverton.

And then Gadget's smile faded as he reached up and briefly touched the pipes that ran into his neck.

"I hope I get to see a lot more sun rises like this," he added quietly.

Brenda started up the car and they drove away from the cybernetics center.

"I don't want you to hope for too much," she told him, "But I have a colleague who may be able to offer a treatment involving a very effective sealant that was designed for use on space vessels. There are no guarantees it will work, but it's a chance."

And she glanced at Gadget and saw more hope in his eyes than he dared to voice aloud.

"What's the risk?"

"Well given your current situation, not much – the leak can't get any worse for using the sealant. The worst case scenario is, it doesn't work and you go back to the pumping system."

Gadget smiled as his eyes shone with optimism.

"I want to try it. I've got nothing to lose."

"My colleague's arranging for the sealant to be sent over to us. Then I have to work out how to fix it around the cable. It could take a few days, maybe longer."

"So I guess I should take your advice and rest," he replied, "I need to be as strong as I can be to go through with it."

"You need to rest so the leak doesn't worsen," she replied, "That way you'll be giving yourself the best possible chance of a successful outcome."

Brenda had been as honest as she could be; she didn't know if the sealant suggested by Felix would work, but now seemed the best time to tell him about it, because he could talk it over with Bess.

As Bess crossed her mind, she smiled as she remembered their conversation about making his dreams come true. The thought made her nervous, but there was no harm in a little light flirting to make him smile...she could only guess at what would happen after she left the house and Gadget and Bess were alone together. That and seeing her new look for the first time would probably lead to a beautiful reunion between them that he would never forget...

They drove in silence for a while and then Gadget spoke up again.

"Who is this colleague who came up with the possible cure?"

Brenda tensed at the thought of how Gadget and Felix were identical and as her theory ran through her mind, she kept her eyes on the road, not wanting to dwell on the things that troubled her.

"His name is Dr Felix Todd, he works for NASA in robotic and cybernetic development. Have you ever heard of him?"

Gadget shook his head.

"He said he's worked with me before," Brenda added, "But I don't recall him."

"But you've worked with a lot of people over the years," Gadget pointed out.

"I know, but I'd _remember_ this guy!"

"Why?" Gadget wondered.

Brenda looked back at the road.

"I just would. He's...kind of..."

She paused, struggling to explain.

"Kind of what?" Gadget asked her, and she looked at him and smiled as she thought how they were identical in voice and appearance.

"Kind of cute, I guess," she replied, and then the car slowed to a halt outside the beach house and the subject was dropped.

* * *

Brenda got out of the car first and then Gadget got out and he looked up the path but the door was closed and he saw no sign of Bess.

"Where is she?"

"She wants to surprise you," Brenda reminded him, and they walked together up the path as the air blew warm and salty as the ocean rolled to shore a short distance away.

When they reached the front door, Gadget found it unlocked and pushed it open.

"Bess?" he called out.

"I'm in the front room!" she called back.

Brenda slowed her pace as Gadget walked down the hallway and went into the front room.

"Welcome home, Gadget," Bess said warmly.

Gadget just stood there for a moment, staring at her as he took in a sight he never thought would become a reality:

Bess was wearing the white dress he had bought her, the one with the low back. Her hair was gone but he didn't miss it as he saw the way the light made the two elegant metal plates that ran down her head shine like the metal was still fluid. She slowly turned around, and then he caught his breath seeing how it trailed down her back in a beautiful, shimmering way that seemed to look as if it had a life of its own.

As she turned back to face him again, he was still staring at her.

"_Wowser,"_ he whispered, _"You look so beautiful..."_

And as she stood in the hallway and watched as they embraced and exchanged tender kisses as Gadget blinked back tears, Brenda felt in the way. She was about to quietly turn around and leave them alone together when they broke off from their embrace and Bess called to her.

"Would you like to stay for a little while?" she wondered.

Brenda felt a flutter of nervousness all over again.

"Maybe for fifteen minutes," she replied.

Then Bess caught the look in her eyes and went over to a drinks cabinet and poured a very large glass of wine.

"There you go," she said, shooting her a look as if to remind her of their plan, "Why don't you have some of that and then you can help me get Gadget into bed."

"Sure..." she said, taking the glass and drinking it down rather quickly.

"You want to do what?" Gadget asked, and then he laughed.

"I have no objection to both of you putting me to bed..." And his eyes darkened as he smiled at Bess and took in her new appearance all over again, _"I feel like all my dreams have just come true,"_ he added.

Then Gadget took off his coat and hat and Bess led him through to the bedroom.

"I want you to take it easy, starting from now," she told him, and as the door closed Brenda heard Bess giggle. She drank the rest of the wine, and poured another glass.

_More than twenty minutes went by and her nerves were still getting the better of her..._

After her fourth large glass of wine, Brenda realized the bottle was almost empty – and that _had_ to be the reason why she felt slightly dizzy, too. She giggled and hoped Felix wouldn't mind if she was late, because she should have been on her way over to Braydon Industries by now...

Bess came out of the bedroom and closed the door.

"Are we going to do this, or what?" she whispered.

Brenda put down the empty wine glass and walked over to her, still feeling slightly unsteady.

"I think I had a bit too much to drink!" she exclaimed.

Bess laughed.

"Just walk in the bedroom with me and let me do the talking. I've got his clothes off, he's resting and he's feeling really excited just looking at me!"

And she reached for the handle and opened the bedroom door - and Brenda followed her in and hoped for the best, because she didn't have a clue what she was expected to do and the drink had _not_ helped matters...

Gadget was sitting up in bed with the covers folded down to his hips as the warm breeze came through the open window, making pale nets shift with the sigh of the sea air.

"Brenda's just going to check my metalwork's okay before she leaves," Bess said, and turned back to Brenda, who held back a giggle as she started to blush.

"Why do you need to do that?" she heard Gadget say.

"I just wanted to...check it's all healed properly," Brenda replied, and stepped closer to Bess and ran her hand over the strip of metal that was blended into her flesh.

"That's healed just fine," she said softly, "I think it's very nice, too..."

Gadget's eyes grew wider as Brenda ran her hands over the metalwork that ran over his girlfriend's head, and then she paused to kiss the back of her neck, before her hand slid down her back, fingertips tracing the path of the metal that ran the length of her spine.

They turned and looked at him and Gadget looked back at them.

_"Would you both like to come over here?"_ he asked quietly, feeling as if he might be having an erotic dream, because things like this only happened in his dreams...

Bess looked at Brenda. By the look in her eyes, it seemed that Bess would have been ready at that moment for the three of them to take things much further.

Bess leaned in and gave Brenda a gentle, brief kiss. Then Brenda pulled back and smiled.

_"Okay...that's enough!"_ And she stumbled but held her balance and giggled.

Gadget looked to Bess, then Brenda and back to Bess once more.

"Did you just do that for me?"

They both laughed as Bess nodded.

"Feel free to carry on if you want to!" he said eagerly.

"I have to get going," Brenda replied, "I have to meet Dr Todd at..." she checked her watch, "I'm late! And I can't drive, I've had too much wine...I'll have to call him. I'm sure he won't mind picking me up..."

"I could drive you," Bess offered.

Brenda shook her head.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Bess. You and Gadget need some time alone, and I'm leaving now – I'm going to wait outside the gate..."

"You could always call a taxi.." she heard Bess suggest, but she didn't turn back, instead she walked out of the house and closed the front door and then took in a deep breath of fresh air, giggled as she thought about what she had just done.

* * *

Bess walked off up the path and took out her phone when she reached the gate, and as she left the beach house behind her, she called Felix.

The phone rang a few times and then he answered it.

As she heard his voice, identical to Gadget, she thought again about her theory and felt confused all over again.

"I need to see you right now," she said, sounding slightly drunk as leaned against the wall outside the beach house, "I'm late for work and I had a bottle of wine – I don't drink like this usually but Bess wanted me to kiss her so I needed a couple of drinks..."

She staggered slightly and leaned heavier against the wall as the world span briefly.

_"Did you get all that?"_

There was a long pause.

"You kissed _who?_" Felix finally said in surprise.

"Bess... my colleague. Gadget's girlfriend. She's my friend and we both care about Gadget –"

"He sounds like a lucky guy!" Felix remarked, and he laughed.

"We wanted to cheer him up because he's so sick because of the accident, and we –"

"You kissed, you actually got together and _kissed_ to cheer him up?" Felix chuckled, adding, "Gadget _is_ a lucky guy! I don't suppose you and Bess could come over and cheer _me _up? I need consolation too, I got a paper cut twenty minutes ago and I could _certainly_ do with some erotic action to take my mind off it!"

"A paper cut?" she wondered.

"Yeah, it's a third degree paper cut and I'm dying for some action to take my mind off my situation."

"I don't think paper cuts can be serious..." Brenda said, wobbling in her shoes as she leaned against the wall.

"Oh yes they can be - this one's so bad I could need CPR within the next hour."

"I'm a little bit drunk but I'm _sure_ I've never heard of a paper cut being dangerous..."

"This one is. I'm lying on the floor while I'm talking to you. _I'm mortally wounded, Dr Bradford!_"

"Shall I call 911 for you?" she wondered.

He laughed again.

"I was just kidding, Brenda!" he said kindly, "And you sound _really _drunk. Let me give you a ride home. Where are you?"

"I'm over at the beach house, I need to get to work...I have to meet you at Braydon Industries!"

"Not with a bottle of wine inside you, Brenda! You sound like you need to go home and get some rest."

"I think I do, I'm not used to drinking this much...usually, I barely touch it at all..."

"The wine or your friend?" he said as he laughed softly.

"Not my friend!" Brenda said, "No, no...That was just for Gadget..."

And then she stifled a sob.

"_He's dying, Felix..."_

"Well hopefully not, hopefully the sealant will work and fix the cable for him. Now give me your address, I'm coming over to pick you up."

Brenda looked over at the sea rolling to shore. The view of it blurred and span a little and she took in a deep breath and steadied herself up again and thanked Felix for his help, and then told him where to meet her.

* * *

After Brenda had left, Bess walked over to the bed and then sat down on the edge of it and looked into Gadget's eyes.

"So you liked that surprise?"

Gadget smiled.

"That was such a thrill, but _nothing_ compares to how I feel when I look at you."

And tears of joy shone in his eyes as he reached up and swept his hand over her head, feeling soft flesh blended with the coolness of metal beneath his touch.

He extended his arm and wrapped it around her waist and pulled her closer, and his voice trembled as he spoke again.

"_You are my dream come true,"_ he whispered, _"And I need you so much, so desperately..."_

Bess slipped out of her dress and got into bed as he retracted his extended arm and his hand snapped back into place at his wrist.

He reached for her and drew her into his arms again, smothering her with a passionate kiss as he rolled on top of her, kissing her as he ran his hands over her newly modified body.

"You're so beautiful!" he whispered breathlessly, kissing the soft skin and metal that covered her head, her neck, then he turned her on her side and planted kisses along the silver that ran down her back, scorching it with hot breath as he murmured that he loved her.

Gadget covered her body with kisses.

And then he turned over, breathing hard as he kept his gaze fixed on her.

"I can't hold back..."

"Okay, I know what to do," she said softly and shifted her hand downwards, gently caressing pleasure sensors that had heated up almost to the point of overload.

Gadget kept his gaze fixed on her, seeing her shimmer in a blend of flesh and metal as pleasure sensors hit the point of overload and he gave a sharp cry as pleasure rushed through sensors into wires and circuits and flooded his body.

Then Gadget lay with Bess in his arms as he slowly recovered, he was still breathless as he kissed her again and looked into her eyes.

"I love you," he told her, "Everything I've ever been through has been worth it just to get to the day I met you, I love you so very much."

"I love you too," she whispered.

Gadget held her closer.

"_Marry me."_

Bess raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him.

"You know I will, I've always said I will some day."

Despite the joy they had shared, sorrow clouded his eyes as he thought of his uncertain future.

"Brenda said she knows someone who might have a cure for me. It's experimental and there's no guarantees, it's a sealant, she thinks it might work. But even if it doesn't, I don't want to wait another day. I want to marry you as soon as possible. I want you to be my wife before it's too late."

Bess held on to him tightly as she gave him a gentle kiss.

"I'll marry you," she promised him, "Let's do it as soon as we can."

"I'm sure I can cut through the red tape," Gadget told her, "I'll use my cable problem to get us a special license. We could plan it for next week."

As they looked at each other, the future didn't seem so frightening as they made their plans.

"Its a shame we can't just run away and do it somewhere all on our own," Bess replied.

Gadget kissed her again.

"Wouldn't that be something; if only we could run off and leave all the problems behind too. But this is the next best thing, we can get married next week and then I'll feel like everything is how it ought to be. I've wanted to marry you for so long, Bess."

Bess smiled as she looked into his eyes.

"I'll be so proud to be your wife."

Gadget was feeling sleepy now; it had taken a while to get his breath back and now the tiredness that washed over him only served to remind him how much he needed to rest.

"I'm already proud of you," he told her as he ran his hand over her perfect blend of flesh and metal, "I love you so very much, Bess."

Then he closed his eyes and shifted closer to the woman he loved, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

As a sleek red car pulled up, Brenda stepped away from the wall and looked at the tinted window, unable to see who was driving. Then the window slid down and the door opened.

"Get in before you fall over!" said Felix, and Brenda got into the car, glancing at him as she closed the door, again thinking how strange it was to be in the company of a man who looked exactly like Gadget.

Her concerns about Gadget and the past and what might or might not be true seemed too complicated to discuss while the wine was making her head feel so light.

"Thanks for helping me out," she said.

"My pleasure," Felix replied as they drove away, "And please don't throw up in my car."

"No, I won't do that. I just feel tired. I don't know how I drank so much so fast..."

"I can't believe you kissed your friend to make Gadget feel better!" he exclaimed.

Brenda turned and looked at him again.

"How's your paper cut?"

He laughed.

"That was a _joke_, Brenda. Where do you live? I'll take you home right away, I think you could use some –"

He fell silent, noticing Brenda had closed her eyes and already fallen asleep.

"Okay," he said, "I'll have to take you back to my hotel...I can only imagine how that's going to look, when I drag a drunken woman up to my room!"

The car picked up speed as Felix headed back to town and Brenda slept on, oblivious to her destination.

* * *

Brenda woke up and felt slightly drunk and mildly hung over.

As he helped her from the car she leaned in too close and bumped into him and then smiled as she looked into this eyes.

_"Sorry, Gadget..."_ she said, still sounding half asleep.

The walk into the hotel brought her back to her senses, as she glanced around and wondered why she was there she pulled away sharply from the arm that was draped around her shoulder.

"_Don't touch me, get your hands off me!"_ she yelled in confusion, and Felix smiled at alarmed guests and covered his embarrassment by saying his wife always got slightly drunk on her birthday, before pulling her sharply into the elevator and hitting the button to close the doors.

Brenda leaned against the wall and gave a groan.

"My head is spinning! Why are we at a hotel?"

"Because you passed out in my car before giving me your address. What was I supposed to do, lock you in my car and leave you there until you sobered up?"

Brenda had no time to answer as the doors opened and he led her out into a corridor.

"I'm taking you back to my room, you can have a lie down, sleep it off and go home."

As they stopped at a door and he paused to unlock it, Brenda leaned against his shoulder.

"I can't believe we're doing this, Gadget," she murmured.

"Not again!" he said, "I'm _not_ Gadget, how many times do I have to tell you that!"

He walked her over to the bed, but as he eased her down on to it she grabbed him and pulled him down with her, wrapping her arms around him as she pressed her face against his shoulder.

"I've thought about you and me and how things were so long ago," she whispered, "I've missed you, Gadget..."

"No," he said firmly, "_Don't_ come on to me. You're drunk, Brenda!"

He made a move to pull away but then she held on, longing to inhale the scent of Gadget's skin, a scent that she had never forgotten, a trace of sweat and oil...

_It wasn't there._

Instead she caught a brief scent of very human skin and a trace of deodorant spray that carried a hint of cologne.

Then it hit her; _this wasn't Gadget..._

Brenda let go of him and he moved away, standing up as she sat up and stared at him.

"I don't understand..."

"You're drunk." He repeated, "And I'm not planning on taking advantage of you because fortunately for you I'm a nice guy! Do you want to sleep off the booze or shall I make you a coffee? I've got some painkillers, you might want to take one, I think you ought to expect a headache sometime soon."

Brenda was rapidly sobering up as she looked around the hotel room.

"I don't think I've drunk that much since I was a teenager! I'm always so sensible..."

"But you got nervous about this threesome with Gadget and his girlfriend. You told me all about it on the phone."

Her eyes grew wider.

"No... It wasn't like that... it was only fooling around, it was nothing heavy...I just lost my nerve... Oh God, I _told_ you about it?"

He laughed as he shook his head.

"There was no way I could have let you walk into Braydon Industries to look at the time machine drunk! You would have wrecked your reputation!"

Brenda gave a sigh as she pushed up the pillows and sat back, but kept her gaze fixed on Felix.

"Thanks for helping me out."

"You sound like you're sobering up," he replied, and went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water and two painkillers.

"I think you need this," he said.

She swallowed the pills with the water, then drank the rest of the water and put the glass down beside the bed.

"I appreciate what you did for me. And what you're doing for Gadget. I guess you are a good guy."

"I try to be," he replied, and then sat down on the edge of the bed, noticing the way she hadn't stopped staring at him since the booze had started to wear off.

"I called Taylor Braydon, I told him I wouldn't be in until tomorrow. I said I had a family crisis on my hands."

"You lied for me?"

"I hope some day if I'm in a drunken stupor and about to mess up you might be around to do the same for me, who knows? But anyway, he accepted my excuse...eventually. He was convinced I was someone else, he's kind of..._strange_, isn't he? I mean, he doesn't seem too bright for such a powerful man. Nice guy, though..."

Brenda smiled at the thought of Taylor.

"He's a sweet person..."

Then she fell silent for a moment as she looked at the man with Gadget's face, who even had his voice, too...

She couldn't hold back from asking any longer.

"Don't you know you look exactly like Inspector Gadget?"

Felix looked into her eyes and smiled.

"I was waiting for you to ask me that!"

Brenda frowned.

"I don't understand...is there some kind of secret? I mean, John Brown and Gadget look similar but not alike...I started to worry; I thought maybe something was wrong, like maybe he wasn't really John Brown... I don't understand. But you look just like Gadget and my voice analysis thought you were the same person. I really hope you are a good guy because I'm not sure what I've uncovered..."

He stared at her for a moment.

"You analyzed my voice? What did you think was going on, some kind of conspiracy?"

He sounded genuinely shocked.

Brenda shrugged.

"I don't know," she replied quietly, "All I know for sure is, John Brown does not look exactly like Gadget as he is today. Yet his DNA records confirm they are the same person. But voice analysis says other wise. I'm confused."

"And you don't recall us ever working together, do you?" he asked her carefully.

Brenda shook her head.

Felix hesitated for a moment, and then he reached over and gently grasped her hand.

"Please don't think something bad is going on," he said kindly, "I understand where you're coming from, but you've got it all wrong. _Let me explain_."

Brenda looked at him intently.

He kept hold of her hand as he began to speak:

"Many years ago, I was working on a project to create a three dimensional scanner that was capable of creating designs for cybernetic replication. I'd just completed the project and got the equipment working, and I'd used it to create the first cybernetic facial plates and artificial skin. In other words, I'd built the world's first cyborg face. But this was in the early days of cybernetics, there was very little research and what was being done was very thin on the ground – I was doing most of this work on my own. So the face I used for the scanner was my own. I replicated my own face. And then I got a call to say there was man who had been caught in an explosion –"

"John Brown?" she said in a hushed voice.

"Brenda, we _did _work on a project together," Felix replied, "We worked on the Gadget Project. _But we never met._ John Brown was flown two hundred miles south of here to have the facial reconstruction completed. He had some terrible injuries. I saw what was left to work with and there wasn't much. But I had the face, and the eyes – all replicated from my own. He had his face reconstructed and then I was asked if it would be possible for me to create a partially cybernetic voice box because his larynx was damaged. So I did that, it wasn't too difficult, that was something I'd been working on before he ever came in for treatment – and all I had to do was add a voice pattern to it."

And he smiled.

"So I added it, I added my own voice. That's why he looks like me, that's why his voice is identical to mine. So there's the truth, Brenda – I don't look like Gadget. _It's the other way around – Gadget looks like me._"

Brenda started to smile.

"That's amazing! I never knew any of this, John came to us at the cybernetics center with his face covered in a dressing – I knew he'd undergone surgery, but he was in a bad way with the blast injuries. I never knew..."

He let go of her hand.

"And if you want further proof, let me ask you something – you know him really well?"

Brenda nodded.

"I was Gadget's girlfriend a few years back," she replied.

"He has a scar at the bottom of his throat?" he asked her.

"Yes he does...he had it when he came to us, it was closing up. It looked like a tracheotomy scar."

"It was," he replied, "Before we fixed his throat injury he was breathing from his chest, we had to put a tube in until we could fix his speech. That area of his body is human skin, not cybernetic. That scar will always be there. Now you know why."

"Even Gadget doesn't recall why it's there!" she said in surprise, "I remember, he told me that a long time ago...Felix, I don't think he remembers anything about what happened to him."

"He won't," he replied, "I'd guess he's got very little recall until the point when he woke up after his modifications were complete. It must have been at least six months later."

"It was." Brenda confirmed.

Felix smiled warmly.

"Now you know the truth, Brenda."

"I think we should explain all this to Gadget," she said.

"Not now," he replied, "From what you told me I'd say he's had enough excitement for one day!"

And as he laughed, Brenda recalled how she had fooled around with Bess and she laughed too.

"I think you're right!"

"Of course I am," he told her playfully, "I'm probably the _only _person you know who is even more highly qualified than you are! Not that I'm saying I'm smarter than you...But maybe I am...I'm going to get us some coffee. You look like you could use it."

"Sounds good to me," Brenda replied, and then she sat and watched as the man with Gadget's face and voice picked up the phone and called for room service.

* * *

_Sanford Scolex had not broken the law since the day he was released from jail._

He had made a choice to change his life and stayed true to that decision – he didn't consider what he had done to Riley to be a crime, even though he had forced him to have the implant without his consent, because he felt sure that when it came to decisions and acting upon them, motivation had to count for something.

He had been driven by the need to protect and save his son's life when he had taken the great risk to force him into having the implant.

_That gamble had paid off._

And as he walked towards the lab, he knew in his heart that he was breaking the law again for the right reasons – love.

Gadget was his closest friend, he thought of him like a brother.

The guilt he suffered, the regret he lived with every day when he remembered all the harm he had caused in the bad old days only served to strengthen his resolve that he had to do this, he had to go back.

It made sense in so many ways:

_If he had never turned to crime, if Claw had never existed, Gadget's life would have turned out differently._

After Jax blew up the bridge, Sanford recalled holding Penny in his arms while she wept for her Uncle, and as Brenda explained the extent of Gadget's injuries and how the cable could not be repaired, something inside him had changed forever.

Scolex swore that it was at that moment the link that held him to his own past in a way that enabled him to forgive himself had snapped completely. He had seen everything that had happened from a new angle:

_It was all his fault. _

_Even the actions of others, even what Jax had done._

_It was a chain reaction that had to be stopped right at the start, and that starting point was his own life, back in the past where so many wrong choices had been made..._

He was almost at the door to the lab and Kramer's stolen pass was in his hand.

The security guards who were posted at the door were absent, having been called away to search the building, which was in the process of evacuation.

Now he knew he could add more offenses to his list of crimes, making malicious phone calls, causing a bomb scare...

Sanford paused at the locked door and glanced over his shoulder.

The corridor was empty.

He swiped the card across the panel and the door opened. Then he hurried inside, feeling a strange combination of fear and excitement as he looked at the time machine and recalled all Kramer had told him.

He stepped into the space between the shimmering panels and smiled as he set the date – a year before he turned to crime seemed like the best option, it would be before his younger self was close to carrying out the plans to steal from the lab belonging to Brenda's father. There would still be time to change his mind...

Sanford finished entering the date and he laughed.

_"Why am I worrying about time? I have all the time in the world in my hands!"_ he exclaimed, feeling a rush of adrenaline that he felt sure might have prompted him to use the machine for evil back in the old days – but that would soon change, when he reached back through time and altered his own destiny and put everything right...

He entered his cybernetic composition into the lower panel and a red light burst out, hitting him with a glow that was brief and sharp, and then it was gone.

A message came up to confirm his scan was complete and his cybernetic composition was thirty five per cent.

Then Sanford stood there, looking at the glowing panels and then to the activation button.

Suddenly he was shaking as he wondered if the machine worked properly - or not...

He hadn't thought about the possibility that the machine might not be fully completed, or that it might have flaws, fatal ones...

And then he heard voices coming from the corridor outside.

"Taylor, there's been a bomb scare!" Emma said, "We have to get out _now!_"

"No I can't do that," Taylor replied, "This is _my_ building – I'm not leaving until I know for sure that everyone is out! Just let me check the lab –"

He stopped in the doorway, staring at Sanford as he reached for the button to the activate the machine.

"What are you doing?" he exclaimed, "Don't touch that, it could be dangerous!"

"You don't understand, "Sanford replied, "It's all my fault – I have to go back and change everything!"

"_No!"_ Taylor yelled, but as Sanford pushed the button a rush of power seemed to drag the air from the room as the lights began to flicker on and off.

Emma clung to her husband as the lab filled with a rushing wind that sent paper work flying around in the air and chairs toppling, amid the chaos the machine was still like the eye of hurricane.

Then as the panels glowed white hot, all power seemed to concentrate and settle into the middle, gathering into two powerful beams that suddenly cut through Sanford's body.

He gave a cry of alarm but it was muted by the burst of power as the two beams touched, trapping him in its center.

Then the panels fell dark, the wind dropped and the room fell still.

Taylor let go of the door and stared at the empty space between the panels.

"Where is he?"

"Oh no..." Emma said as she clung to Taylor, "I think it killed him..."

"He vanished..." Taylor's eyes were wide as he looked at his wife, "He used the machine and vanished...that must mean –"

"He's dead," Emma said in a trembling voice.

Taylor shook his head.

"No, no...Don't think like that. It's a time machine...it sent him somewhere!"

"How do we know for sure?"

Emma let go of Taylor and dashed forward, but Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Don't step inside it, the power might still be running..."

And he cautiously stepped around the outside of the panels and glanced down at the controls.

"I don't have a clue what any of this means...I need to get someone clever to look at it... but it says _transfer complete.._."

Taylor's eyes lit up and he turned to Emma with a smile on his face.

"It works! It did, it sent him somewhere!"

Emma looked pale and shaken as she shook her head.

"We don't know for sure," she said again, "We should get out of here and get some help...he could be in danger."

"You're right."

Taylor turned away from the machine and hurried from the lab.

As they reached the elevator, a sudden thought hit him and concern filled his eyes.

_"I hope he doesn't get in trouble over this,"_ he remarked, _"I hope Chief Quimby doesn't get mad at him..."_

* * *

As the surge of power released him, Sanford lost his balance as his cane slipped from his grip and he fell painfully to the ground.

As he struggled to get up, he looked around, feeling disoriented... this wasn't the lab.

Then he recalled Braydon Industries had not expanded until 2008.

He reached for his cane and leaned against a tree as he got up, looking around again:

This was waste ground, fenced off and flattened ready for construction to begin... this land would be empty for a few more years, because the tall Braydon Industries building was yet to exist...

He caught his breath and felt a brief wave of vertigo as it hit him that the machine had actually worked.

_This was 1998, a year before his younger self would turn to crime..._

He made his way to a break in the fencing and looked towards the busy town center beyond it. In the distance, it loomed up like a dark tower reflecting sun:

His former business premises, where his younger self was currently turning into a cold and bitter man who embraced his wealth and power as his only solace after the death of his former fiancee.

As he headed closer the break in the fence he caught his breath again as he realized something else:

_He didn't know the truth, his younger self didn't know Riley was still alive..._ He thought his baby son was dead, but that wasn't true. He was three years old now and living with the Hammerstones...

"_You can change everything!"_ he exclaimed, and quickened his pace, filled with hope for a future that still had the potential to turn out differently.

As he stepped out on to the street his heart was pounding, but partly out of fear. Coming back to the past had brought something home to him that he had never confronted before, and now the truth terrified him:

He understood just how evil his younger self had been, and the thought of meeting him and looking into his eyes filled him with rage, but also with fear – he knew he was about to meet a truly evil man. The fact that this man was himself made the task no easier, because only he knew of the depth of coldness that had dwelt within his bitter heart in those dark days.

_He knew he really was about to face his own worst enemy..._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chief Quimby's face was bright red as rage burned in his eyes. He slammed his fist on his desk and the thump gave Taylor a jolt as he looked at him and wondered if he was about to be yelled at over something that wasn't his fault.

"_I want that son of a bitch found, I want him brought back from where ever he's ended up and then I'm throwing his ass in jail and flushing the key down the toilet!" _he fumed.

"But if you let me explain, "Taylor said quietly, "You see, there's more to it –"

"I don't want to hear it!" Quimby said angrily, "I knew this was too good to be true - he's _not_ a changed man! He saw his opportunity and took it –"

"To go back in time," Taylor said.

"To go back and do _what,_ Taylor? I'll tell you the answer to that question – he wants to go back and find his younger self, so he can team up with him and cause even _more_ trouble than he did before!"

"No!" Taylor insisted, but Quimby refused to listen.

"He's still Claw. The time machine was the perfect opportunity he's been waiting for! When he gets back here, he's going to jail and he's not coming out again until he's in a pine box!"

"_That's enough!"_

The Chief stared at Taylor, who had stood up and glared at him with a level of anger in his eyes he had only ever seen once before, on the day Robo Gadget's head had been stuffed in a box and sent without warning to Dr Kramer after it turned up unexpectedly in the river.

"Excuse me?" said Quimby.

"No," Taylor said sharply, "I _don't_ excuse your ignorance and your assumptions! I was there, I witnessed what happened! He told me he wanted to go back and change the past! _He wants to put things right!_ Wouldn't you do that if you had the chance? I think everyone would want to go back and change something if they had the ability! If you want to know his reasons, ask his son - talk to Riley!"

And the Chief slowly turned to Riley, who was sitting next to Taylor with a troubled expression in his eyes.

"He's right," Riley said, "My Dad's been in a real mess since Gadget had his accident. He blames himself. He's been crying, keeps saying he wishes he could change his past, undo every bad thing he ever did as Claw. That's why he's gone back – to stop himself from making past mistakes. And you want to prosecute him for it? He's doing this because he loves Gadget. He wants to _save_ him!"

Quimby's rage subsided as he thought about all Riley had said.

"But how can he save him? Jax Wilberforce blew the bridge... it was nothing to do with Claw!"

Riley's eyes filled with frustration and he shook his head as Taylor spoke up again.

"I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but even _I_ get this...If he goes back and stops himself from turning into a bad guy, the explosion that almost killed John Brown doesn't happen. He never becomes Inspector Gadget and Scolex doesn't become Claw! That means he won't driving over the Riverton Bridge when the explosives detonate, he won't have the accident and the rip in his main cable...none of it happens!"

The Chief thought about it.

Then he thought about the deeper implications of Sanford's actions..._the whole of the past could be rewritten, and not necessarily in a good way..._

"We have to bring him back," he said urgently, "Who knows what damage he could do to the future?"

He reached for the phone but then stopped, remembering Gadget was not fit for duty.

"I want you to get your best people to work on that machine," Quimby said to Taylor, "We have to figure out a way to bring him back as soon as possible."

Taylor nodded.

Riley stood up and turned for the door, but Taylor looked back at the Chief.

"He had the best intentions," he reminded him, "He just didn't think it through. Please don't lock him up for being desperate to help his friend."

Quimby shook his head.

"I've taken all you've said into consideration," he replied quietly, "I see it from a different perspective now, but it doesn't mean I'm happy about what he's done."

"My people will figure something out, Taylor promised him, "We'll get him back safely."

And then Taylor and Riley left the office and the Chief sat alone wondering how long it would be before Sanford's actions in the past had a devastating effect on the time line...

* * *

Sanford Scolex had not given another thought to his life in the future, the place he had left behind, because being back in the past was overwhelming as he walked familiar streets and felt as if he was reliving his youth. Then as the tall, dark building loomed closer, he felt a sense of dread wash over him:

Facing his younger self would not be an easy task. So much rage was building up inside him that he was half afraid he might grab the other Scolex and choke him to death as he thought about all the hurt he had caused.

Sanford leaned on his cane and paused, standing still as the world rushed by at its usual busy place, while he thought about time and all the implications of changing the past.

He hadn't thought it through before he left, he had acted on instinct, following his heart as longed to wipe out his own evil deeds and put so much right, to make everything better...

He took in a deep breath.

"_Not yet..."_ he whispered, and turned away from the building feeling weak and frustrated to think that he couldn't bear to face himself, younger, about to set off on the wrong track in life, about to plot a course that would lead to such terrible events...

_Then he thought of John Brown._

_It would be a year before the other Scolex caused the explosion that would shatter his life._

Emotion swept over him and he blinked away tears as he hailed a cab and got in and told the driver to take him over to the Bradford Laboratory.

* * *

As the taxi drove through the streets, Sanford checked his watch. The glass was cracked and the time frozen at the moment he had activated the machine.

"What's the time?" he asked the driver.

"Three fifteen," the driver replied.

_"Damn, that's no good...he works nights..."_ Sanford muttered, but the taxi had slowed to a halt and he knew it was too late to turn back.

Sanford reached into his pocket and pulled out some money, shoving it into the drivers hand before getting out of the taxi.

As it drove away he stood there leaning on his cane and looking at the entrance to the building.

The realization dawned on him that if he walked in, he would come face to face with Artemus Bradford, the man he was due to murder in the next twelve moths...

_Guilt overwhelmed him again._

And then as he put his hand over his mouth and stifled a sob, someone spoke up behind him.

_"Are you okay?"_

Sanford turned around to see Penny standing there. She was just a kid, no older than thirteen, and looking at him so kindly as she wondered why he was standing outside the lab and crying.

"No, not really," he said tearfully, "I want to put so much right but I don't know where to begin."

The Penny spoke up again.

"Just wait there...I'll fetch my Uncle."

And she turned towards the parking area.

"Uncle John!" she called, and waved at him to come over.

More tears filled Sanford's eyes as John Brown took some paperwork from his white convertible and began to walk over to join them.

_"I'm so sorry,"_ Sanford said quietly as tears ran down his face.

Penny looked up at him and frowned.

"Don't cry...talk to my Uncle, he's a security guard, he can help."

As John walked over to them, he looked at the man who leaned on a cane as he wept, and concern filled his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently.

Sanford looked into his eyes, seeing no trace of the man he knew as Gadget, but recalling John very clearly from the night he caused the explosion that shattered his life...

"No, I'm not...I know who you are, you're John Brown, you work here...I came here to see you –"

"I'm not on duty until tonight," John replied, "I was just about to give some paperwork to Dr Bradford – she left it in my car when I gave her a ride home..."

Then he stopped and handed the papers to his niece.

"Would you take these papers in to Brenda, I think this man needs my help."

"Sure," Penny replied, and took the paperwork and ran off towards the entrance to the building.

Then John looked at him intently.

"What's this about?" he asked.

"The future," Sanford said quietly, and as he looked at him, John saw such a deeply haunted look in his eyes that he could not fail to realize that this man truly needed his help.

"The future?" he repeated, feeling confused.

"I'm Sanford Scolex," he told him, "Not the one who owns the big robotics company in town – that was me many years ago. _I had to come back._.."

John looked at him cautiously as he wondered if he was slightly crazy.

"I don't really follow what you mean..."

"I can prove it," Sanford replied, and tugged up the sleeve of his jacket.

_"I'm a cyborg,"_ he told him, _"Thirty five percent modified. Five percent is my artificial hand. The rest..."_

He thought about the wiring in his body that replaced the tissue that had been taken to save Gadget's life and he shook his head.

_"You don't need to know the rest – but I have to show you this."_

And he gripped the flesh that covered his wrist and tugged.

It stripped off like a glove, revealing a robotic hand, with a kind of intricate design he had never seen before – even when catching glimpses of the work in the lab, he had seen nothing like this...

Sanford flexed his fingers and John stared as the robotic hand moved.

"What the...how did you...I...I've never seen anything like this!"

"This improved technology hasn't been invented yet," he replied, "Sorry about that."

And he gave the skin covering a shake to straighten out the fingertips and then held out the robotic hand as he prepared to slide the skin back into place.

"I gave her the files. Brenda said thanks –"

Penny stopped speaking as her eyes grew wide.

Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the robotic hand and she let out a high-pitched scream.

"No, it's okay!" John said quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking at her intently,"He doesn't mean us any harm. I'm not sure what this about but please don't scream, Penny. He can't help it if he's got a robotic hand."

Sanford had slipped the skin covering back on.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," he said to Penny, "But I had to explain something to your Uncle."

She looked at him suspiciously.

"Explain what?"

And he looked back at Penny, who was just a child here in the past, who knew nothing of what the future would hold. He thought of the woman she would become and of the life he shared with her and his heart ached as he wished he was safely back in his own time, where Penny was the strong woman who he leaned on so much, he missed her like his heart had been left behind when he stepped into the time machine...

"It's private," he replied, "It's just something I need to talk to your Uncle about."

John glanced at Penny.

"Get in the car," he told her, "we're going home."

And then he turned back to Scolex.

"You can come with us. I want to know what this is about."

* * *

Felix Todd had received a call to say that he was needed at the lab urgently, and had left Brenda sleeping in the hotel room and hurried over to Braydon Industries, wondering how someone could have got access to the time machine and managed to use it – security had been tight, yet now someone had broken in, used the machine and apparently, gone back into the past...

He met Taylor Braydon on the top floor in a mint green lab where the machine stood in the middle of the room with the panels glowing and the controls still illuminated.

Taylor stared as he walked into the room.

"You should be resting! Go home, Gadget!"

Felix gave a sigh.

"_Not again..."_ he murmured as he stepped between the panels and took a closer look at the controls.

"Gadget, go home!" Taylor repeated, "You have to rest, remember?"

Felix turned from the control panel and looked at him.

"I'm _not_ Inspector Gadget."

Taylor gave him a goofy grin.

"Oh, I get it, this is a _game._..okay...um..._I'm not Taylor Braydon, who am I?_"

And he smiled, hoping he was playing the game properly.

Felix rolled his eyes.

"I don't have time for this. I have a job to do. I'm _not _Inspector Gadget, my name is Dr Felix Todd. You spoke to me on the phone and thought I was Gadget, it took me half an hour to explain before you got it, remember?"

And then recognition flashed in Taylor's eyes.

"Oh yeah, I remember...you sound just like him – and you look like him too! Wow, what a coincidence!"

Felix gave a weary sigh.

"Can we just drop the subject of me looking like Gadget? I have work to be getting on with."

Taylor smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

And he stood there, still smiling.

Felix gave another sigh and looked around at him again.

"What?" he demanded, "Why are you still standing there?"

Taylor thought for a moment.

"You know the time machine, this one, the one you're working on..."

"The one I'm _trying_ to work on," he replied.

"Yeah, that one," Taylor said, "I was wondering...could you make the time machine a lot smaller? Could you squash it up for me and put it into my car? Or if not my car, could you fix it into a phone booth for me?"

Impatience flashed in his eyes as Felix struggled to resist the urge to shout at Taylor.

"No, I can't build it into anything, it's _far_ too big for that. Now I have to get on and try and figure out how this thing works..."

"Okay." Taylor smiled again.

_And carried on standing there._

"Why are you still here?" Felix asked as he took a screw driver and began to unscrew the panel that worked the controls.

"I just wondered when you're going to get Sanford back. Do you think it will be easy or difficult?"

There was a clatter as Felix dropped the screw driver angrily and turned back to Taylor.

"I can't work with you staring at me, watching me, asking dumb questions! No, I _don't_ know if I will be able to get Sanford back – maybe not...maybe it will be impossible! Now leave me alone and let me work!"

Taylor looked at him thoughtfully.

"So...it's like, a lot of pressure, fixing time machines? I mean, you know about time machines so...wait, I have an idea! Why don't you get _another_ time machine, a _better_ one, and then you can use it to bring him back!"

And he smiled, oblivious to the impatience in Dr Todd's eyes.

"There is no other time machine," he told him, "This is the very first. This is a huge discovery. I don't fix time machines for a living. I was brought in because I'm the most qualified person to take a look at it."

"Oh, okay..." Taylor paused for a moment and then he spoke up again.

"Can I help? I really want Sanford to get back safely."

"Sure, you can leave me alone to get my work done, then maybe I _will _be able to figure out a way to get your friend back!" he snapped.

"_You'd better get him back..."_

They both turned to see Penny standing in the lab.

She blinked tearful eyes as she looked at the man who bore a startling resemblance to her Uncle.

"I don't understand how this was allowed to happen!" she exclaimed, "I know Sanford was upset, I know he wanted to help my Uncle Gadget...but how did he manage to sneak into the lab like that? I am so scared for him, I just want to know he's alive. Can you at least tell me that?"

Felix looked at Penny and shook his head.

"I'm not going to lie to you. I don't know if I can even figure out how the recall works on it. I _do_ know it's designed for cyborg use. If he's over thirty percent cyborg, there's every chance he made it."

A spark of hope came to her eyes.

"He's thirty five percent cyborg, and he's my husband," she said.

"Well I'll do my best to try and bring your husband back to you," he assured her.

"Thank you," Penny said, and Taylor put his arm around her and led her towards the door.

As they walked away, Felix picked up the screw driver again.

Then he paused as he heard Taylor Braydon speak to Penny.

"Did you notice he looks just like Gadget?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, "I noticed."

"But when you talk to him, you can tell he's not Gadget," Taylor added, "Your Uncle's nice to everyone – Dr Todd's not like that...he can be _really_ mean..."

"_Idiot!"_ Felix muttered under his breath, and then he carried on with the task of opening the panel that covered the control system.

* * *

Far back in the past, John Brown's young niece had resented being sent out to the garden to keep an eye on Brain, but as the dog had run up to him and greeted him, John had caught the curious look in Penny's eyes as she looked thoughtfully at the man with the robotic hand, so he had sent her outside despite her protests so he could speak alone to Scolex and make some kind of sense of the situation.

Penny was lingering close to the kitchen window as she threw a ball and Brain chased it.

John closed the window, ignored the sour glance from his niece and sat down at the kitchen table, looking across it at the man named Sanford Scolex who claimed to be from the future.

As John looked at him, he thought about his long standing ambition to be a cop, and decided to test out his detective abilities by going back to the start of the situation.

"You were crying outside the lab. Why? What was making you cry? You said sorry...what for?"

Sanford met his gaze, speaking the truth as he hoped John Brown would listen and believe him.

"Right now, my younger self is on the top floor of his dark skyscraper of a building while he thinks about life and how its let him down. He's filled with hate and rage and all he wants to do now is accumulate his wealth and the rest of the world be damned! His ex partner was killed in an accident a few years ago – along with his young son. That's what changed him. But his son _isn't_ dead; he just doesn't know the truth yet. His son Riley is only three years old - and if he puts aside all his anger and his greed and his mad desire for power, he could get custody of that boy, he could get his son back!"

"Your son?" John said as he caught the look of desperation in Sanford's eyes.

He nodded.

"Riley's twenty one in my time. Had a terrible accident when he was a teenager, had almost all his body rebuilt robotically. He went through hell trying to accept it. In the end he had an implant to alter his thought process and now he's happy. But I want to stop that accident from happening to him, I want to stop so much that's yet to happen..."

And John saw fear in his eyes as Sanford spoke in a hushed voice:  
_"You don't know what the future holds, John Brown. You don't know what's about to happen in your own life...I'm the only one who can stop it."_

John felt a creeping sense of cold spreading through his bones. There was a look in his eyes, it was there in his voice – _all that Sanford said sounded unbelievable, but he knew he was speaking the truth..._

"What do you mean, what happens to me? And why are you the only one who can stop it?"

Sanford took in a deep breath as guilt and pain reflected in his eyes.

"_Because I'm the one who causes it._ Me, as I am here in your time, my _other_ self... and I'm here to stop him before it's too late."

Then he took in a sharp breath, fighting a wave of panic as he wondered if he had said too much, and what the consequence of that could be far off in the future..._At what point would the time line change, and how would it change? Sanford had no answer, and thinking on those questions filled him with dread._

John fell silent as he looked at him across the table. His gaze shifted to his cyborg hand, now covered once more by artificial skin.

"What happened to your hand?"

"It hasn't happened yet," he replied, "it happens next year – gets crushed by a bowling ball."

"I've got a bowling ball in my car," John replied, "They are heavy...how did that happen?"

Sanford shook his head.

"It's not important. But _you_ are."

John stared at him.

"Me?" he laughed nervously, "I'm no one special. I'm just a security guard. I hope to be a cop one day, but I don't know if I'll ever achieve my dream."

Sanford looked at him, feeling an ache in his heart as he thought of the pain and suffering he had caused to the man who would one day become his closest friend. There was so much he wanted to tell him, but he knew he couldn't explain his fate in the other timeline, he couldn't look into his eyes as he sat there in a human, undamaged body and explain what would happen twelve months from now...

"I don't know if some things are meant to be," he said quietly, "But I do know as long as I have the power to change the past I will try to spare him pain."

"Who?" John asked.

Sanford knew tears were running down his face again, and he let them flow as he spoke up again:

"_My dearest friend. Inspector Gadget."_

The name meant nothing to him as John looked back at him.

"Who is he? Does he live in Riverton, I mean now, in this time?"

Sanford wiped his eyes but they remained glazed with tears and for a moment he could not bear to look at him.

"Not yet. He's Riverton's greatest detective. He's also a good man, my closest friend and he's seventy percent cyborg. In my time, he was on a case and there was an accident. He suffered damage that can't be repaired. That's why I'm here, that's the main reason. If I can change my past I also change his. It's complicated."

John thought about all he had been told.

"He's lucky to have a friend like you," he said, and to his surprise, Sanford shook his head as he stifled another sob.

"_Regret is a terrible thing to live with, John."_

"But you've got nothing to regret, you've come back to the past to put things right. I still don't get how I'm involved in all of this, but I'll help you if I can."

Sanford looked at him with deep sadness in his eyes.

"Let me tell you more about Gadget," he said, and warmth crept into his voice, "There was a time when I hated him. When we were on opposite sides. But _not _any more. When I looked back on my life and everything I'd ever done, the hurt I'd caused – I looked into his eyes and I suddenly knew the truth. I'd been running from it for a long time but no one can run forever. Then it dawned on me - I'd caused all this suffering to a good man, a kind man. And he forgave me. I don't deserve it, I will _never_ deserve his friendship or forgiveness, but I love him like a brother and I would die for him if that's what it takes to set everything right."

John shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"You didn't answer my question. I asked, what happens to me? How am I involved? I need to know – I'm almost afraid to ask, but I think you ought to explain."

Sanford briefly closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. As he looked back at him, he chose his words carefully:

"In the future, not too far from now – cybernetics will expand and develop rapidly. Cyborgs will become commonplace in society. You've probably seen some of the work going on at Dr Bradford's lab – that's just the beginning."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

John's questions were difficult to answer. Sanford had never imagined visiting the past could be so difficult to handle...

_He looked into John's eyes and pictured the horror he would feel if he told him the truth, that a year from now he would be caught in an explosion that would destroy most of his body, and that when he finally woke up, he would be seventy percent machine for the rest of his life_...

"I can't say because time isn't set, not any more. I've changed something simply by coming back here. I must have caused some kind of ripple, altered some of what is to come. I have to speak to my younger self. I need to meet with him as soon as possible."

"Want me to come with you?" John asked him.

Sanford's eyes widened in alarm.

"No, I couldn't allow that. Your paths mustn't cross! You have no idea how dangerous he – I mean _I_, used to be. I have to deal with him alone."

Then Sanford reached across the table and briefly patted John's hand.

"You stay here, in your life the way it's supposed to be, raising young Penny and working at the lab. Don't change anything. Let _me_ make the changes. I have to keep you safe."

"_Why?" _

It was too late. John was looking at him intently as he demanded an answer.

_"Why am I so special, Sanford?"_

"Because you're a good man and you don't realize how loved you are," he replied, "And Penny needs you. She needs her life to be happy and uncomplicated."

A sudden thought came to mind and John asked another question.

"Do you know me in the future? Is that why you came looking for me, because we know each other?"

Sanford nodded, and then fell silent.

"What's my life like in the future?"

As he asked that question, John felt apprehensive of the answer.

Sanford hesitated.

"Well... let me see...you had a relationship with Brenda but that didn't last –"

John stared at him in disbelief.

"Dr Brenda Bradford? I get together with her? I like her a lot, I think she's beautiful –"

"But it doesn't last, John. The true love of your life comes along many years from now."

"Tell me about her."

Sanford gave a sigh.

"Her name's Bess, she's a cybernetic surgeon, very beautiful...before I left , last thing I heard was she'd undergone a rather radical transformation – had some sleek metal plating fixed into her skin. I believe that's what your preference is in the future, John. "

_"Metal?"_ he said in a hushed voice.

"Yes," Sanford replied, "I hadn't seen her at the point where I left, but I heard she had her hair removed and had some sleek metal work fitted to her head and down her back, along her spine. Apparently you were _very _excited about it."

And as John pictured it, he felt a heat spreading through his face as the idea instantly turned him on.

He was still blushing as he spoke again.

"Really? She did that for me?"

"As I said, cybernetic modification is commonplace – cosmetically as well as for medical reasons."

"Modifications?" he repeated, feeling surprised that such a thought could strike him as so erotic.

"I don't think I should say any more. It might not be a good idea to tell you too much about your own future."

"But I _want_ to know more."

Sanford leaned on his cane as he got up.

"I should leave, I have so much to do and I don't know how long the machine will allow me to remain in the past."

Sanford looked exhausted.

"I'd like you to stay here," John told him, "You look like you need some rest."

Sanford smiled.

"Thank you," he said warmly, "I appreciate the offer very much."

And as the two men looked at each other, John got the oddest feeling, as if they had known one another for years. Perhaps the timelines were crossing, tangling up or touching at two points that had never touched before – he wasn't sure because he knew nothing about time travel, but he did feel certain of the fact that Sanford was someone he could trust...

* * *

Far away in a future that was yet to be affected by Sanford's visit to the past, Bess watched as Gadget stood in front of the mirror and straightened his tie, then unbuttoned his collar and loosened his tie because the small pipes that ran along the side of his neck made his collar feel too tight.

As she watched him dress, she felt utterly helpless.

Everything had been fine until Penny had called in tears to tell him, _Sanford had done something crazy_.

After a long phone conversation, Bess had felt a heavy sense of dread as he had got up and showered and got dressed, announcing he was going to get involved because Penny was his niece and Sanford was family too - and even a leaking cable wouldn't stop him from trying to help...

"Please rethink this," she said quietly, "You have to rest, Gadget! In a few days you could have a permanent fix for the cable, then it won't matter what you do – but not yet, not while you're reliant on the pump, it's too risky."

"I'm going over to the lab," he replied, "I can't sit back and do nothing."

Bess reached for her car keys.

"Okay, I'll drive you," she replied, "At least if I stay with you, maybe you won't over do things."

Gadget put on his coat and hat and looked back at his reflection, and then he turned to Bess and smiled.

"I feel better already just to be Inspector Gadget, detective again."

Bess forced a smile and turned to the door and they walked out of the house together.

"I can't wait for the Gadget Mobile to be fixed," he remarked as he got into the car.

Bess got in the drivers seat and closed the door.

"Are you sure you feel up to this? Because you can't do more than Taylor's people, it's a time machine, and it's up to the scientists to figure it out."

Gadget looked at her, remembering all they had shared and the fact that she had gone so far with her transformation just to make his dreams come true. He was terrified for Sanford and couldn't sit back and do nothing, but he didn't want to yell at Bess over it. As he replied, his voice was calm and measured as he kept his temper in check.

"_Bess, I'm okay. Please start the car."_

She hesitated.

"I have to agree with Brenda, you need to rest. You should be in bed."

"Please," he said again, "I'm doing this for Sanford. Either start the car, or I'll extend both my arms, turn the key in the ignition and drive from the passenger seat. Don't make me use my gadgets to get my own way. I _have_ to be there."

She gave a sigh. As she looked at him she weighed it up, and decided that if he used his gadgets it would _certainly _put a strain on his systems.

Determination burned in his eyes as sure as the fading sunlight reflected off the pipe work on his neck that reminded her how fragile he really was...

"Okay," she said quietly as she kept her worries silent, "We'll do this _your _way, Gadget."

And then she started the engine and they drove away.

* * *

On arriving at Braydon Industries, Gadget got out of the car and as Bess got out too, he glanced at her and the look in his eyes softened.

"Sorry about the way I spoke to you in the car," he said, "But I'm so worried about Sanford, I just want him back here."

"I know that," Bess replied, and they went into the building together.

Bess watched him closely as they took the elevator to the top floor, where Taylor was waiting to meet them.

"I'm so glad you're here!" he exclaimed as Gadget walked towards him.

Then he paused and stared at Bess.

"Wow! That's some heavy work you've had done...nice metal, though..."

But Taylor's thoughts quickly switched back to Sanford Scolex as they headed for the lab.

"You should have seen it, Gadget!" he exclaimed, "I was making sure the building was evacuated after the bomb scare –"

"What bomb scare?"

As they neared the lab, Gadget felt himself sliding back into his usual role as police Inspector, and thoughts of the pipes and the pump that was keeping him alive seemed far removed from his mind. It briefly occurred to him that perhaps it would be better if he kept on working while he went through this crisis, because work was making him feel like his old self once again...

"We got a call to say there was a bomb on the premises, but nothing was found, it was a hoax. That's when Sanford slipped in and activated the machine. "

"I bet I know who made the hoax call," Gadget remarked.

Taylor scratched his head.

"Really? I can't think of anyone..."

Then they walked into the lab and Gadget and Bess looked at the panels that glowed silently as controls illuminated beside them.

"This is it?" Bess wondered.

"Yes, this is the time machine," Taylor replied, "It doesn't look very exciting – but it was scary when the two beams of light hit him, they just cut through him and then he was gone!"

Gadget turned to him.

"What do your people make of this? Do you know how the machine works yet?"

"Well Dr Todd was checking it over today – he said it's designed for cyborg use and because Sanford's thirty five percent cyborg, he should have transported okay."

"Transported where?" Gadget asked him.

"Back to 1998," Taylor explained, "Right before he pushed the button, he told me he wanted to go back and change everything. He did it because he wants to stop his younger self turning to crime. I know I'm right, Riley told me all about it."

"All about what?" he asked.

"About how cut up Sanford was when you ruptured the main cable. He said he kept saying it was all his fault, that if Claw had never existed things would have been different."

Gadget gave a heavy sigh as he thought of Sanford, the man who had changed so much he was far removed from Claw in every way, yet could not let go of his past regrets.

"Where's Dr Todd?"

"He went back to the hotel about half an hour ago. He looks a bit like you –"

Gadget disregarded his last remark as his thoughts remained with Sanford.

"Has he figured out how to bring him back?"

Taylor's eyes lit up as he finally felt useful.

"Yes! He told me how it works! He said the energy grabs hold of the traveler and sends them back to a selected point in time, but only for forty-eight hours. Then it fires up again and the two beams reach back, grab the traveler and return them to the fixed point between the two panels. So just over twenty four hours from now, it's like time will grab hold of him, drag him out of there and throw him back into the present!"

And he smiled.

"Do you get it? Because I do, I get it... It means Sanford's coming back, but he doesn't know it."

But Gadget wasn't smiling.

"We can't wait another day," he said as he thought about the implications of Sanford Scolex going back to change the past, "It's too risky. Who knows what he could do back there? He might change things for the worse, Taylor! I've got to stop him."

"How?" Taylor wondered.

Bess already knew the answer.

"Oh no, Gadget, no, you _can't_ do this..." she pleaded, "You need to rest, it's too risky!"

"What is?" Taylor asked.

Gadget looked to Bess and then to Taylor as determination burned in his eyes; his mind was already made up...

"_He can't stay there any longer, its too dangerous. I'm going back to 1998, I'm bringing him home."_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"_No, Gadget – absolutely not!"_

As he heard Brenda's reaction to his request, he felt his heart sink.

"But I could go back, find Sanford and bring him home!" As he replied, he was gripping the phone tightly.

Brenda sounded tired, as if she had just woken up from a deep sleep, but that tiredness soon left her voice as she spoke again:

"You can't use the machine in your current state. It could prove fatal. I won't authorize it, Gadget. The most I can offer is for you to have the cable treated with the sealant and then, if Scolex has not returned, you can talk to Quimby about the possibility of going back to find him."

Gadget stood in the lab and fell silent, looking at Bess as he caught a flash of worry in her eyes.

"You can't go," she said quietly, and then he turned his attention back to the phone call.

"I'm at the lab now; I'm over at Braydon Industries."

"Well Dr Todd has just had the sealant brought over by courier. He rushed it here and we've been spending the past few hours trying to figure out how to use it effectively - and it seems like a straightforward procedure. Come over to the cybernetic center in the morning and we can try it out. But I can't guarantee it will work. So forget about the situation with Sanford and let the scientists deal with it – Felix seems to think the machine will activate a recall in just over twenty four hours and bring him back any way. The fix for the cable _has_ to take priority."

Gadget gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'll come over tomorrow morning and see if you can fix the cable. And then my priority is Sanford."

He ended the call and turned back to Bess.

"Dr Todd had the sealant brought over today. Brenda wants me in the lab tomorrow morning to try and fix the cable."

That news gave her hope but also filled her with worry as she thought about his plans involving the time machine.

"I'm glad to hear it," Bess replied, " But is it risky?"

"Straightforward," Gadget told her, "So it looks like my only problem is getting permission to use the time machine to find Sanford."

And then he briefly glanced at Taylor, said goodbye and walked out of the room.

Bess followed him out, wondering if Gadget actually understood the seriousness of his situation – he was currently dependent on a pumping system to keep him alive, and if the sealant failed, he would be back in that situation – it seemed he was more worried for Sanford than he was for himself...

* * *

Sanford had fallen asleep in the spare room. When he woke and looked around he felt briefly disoriented, then remembered he was back in the past – a past that needed so much to be changed...

He got up, checked his watch, remembered it was cracked from the journey in the machine, and reached for his cane and then left the bedroom.

He made his way down the stairs and paused, looking over his shoulder.

The door to the front room was open, the TV was on and Penny was sitting on the sofa with a folder open writing an essay.

He stepped away into the shadows, spotting a phone book underneath the table where the telephone sat.

Sanford quickly turned the pages, shifting the book into the half light and looking at the listings of local businesses.

"It was a factory..." he murmured, and then turned to the index and searched under the list of business names.

"Let me see..." he whispered, "Wilberforce...where are you..."

Then _Jaxon Wilberforce Industrial Co_ caught his eye.

He checked the address and smiled: Jax had once owned a factory that had burned down, and in this time, that factory was still there, just outside of town... he grabbed a notepad and pen and quickly wrote down the address, tore off the page and then replaced the note pad and put the folded paper into his pocket.

Then Sanford thought about borrowing John's convertible, and he went down the hall and shifted the curtain aside, expecting to see the car in the driveway.

But the car was gone.

He went back down the hall and entered the front room, where Penny was still doing homework.

She looked up at him and stopped writing.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," he replied, "I was exhausted, I needed that sleep."

"My Uncle's gone out to get some groceries," she told him, "He's coming back soon – but only for a couple of hours and then he's going to work. He works nights. Used to work the day shift, but I'm getting older now and I'm not scared of the dark."

Sanford smiled, thinking of the tough woman she would grow up to become, a woman who was fearless in every way.

"Well I need to go out too. I have to be somewhere tonight. Tell your Uncle I'm off to settle some unfinished business. He doesn't have to worry, I know what I'm doing."

"_Wait,"_

Sanford had turned for the door but as she spoke, he turned back.

"I was listening outside the door. My Uncle thinks I'm just a kid but I want to be a detective when I grow up."

And she lowered her voice.

"_Are you really from the future?"_

Sanford was a little startled by her reply, but then he thought of Penny as he remembered her in the days of Gadget and Claw – she had been such a help to her Uncle even when she was a kid...

He smiled, shaking his head as he thought about Penny the woman, back in his time, who was now his wife – she missed nothing, too...

"I was hoping not to involve you, but yes, I _am_ from the future."

"I think I heard you say you know my Uncle too?"

"Yes, very well indeed. I'm proud to call him a friend."

"So...you must know me too?"

That spark of interest, that need to know, a look he knew so well, was shining in young Penny's eyes.

"Yes I do," he said softly, feeling an ache in his heart for the woman she would become, who was so far away in a future he could not reach out to.

"How does my life turn out?" she asked.

He smiled again as warmth shone in his eyes.

"In my time, you're in your twenties, married with a young son."

Penny's eyes widened with excitement.

"I'm married? What's my husband like?"

That question tugged at his heart and made his longing for home ache sharply.

"He loves you very much," he told her, "And you love him, too. Sometimes you tease him and call him names but you don't mean it. He was very lonely once, very sad and bitter at the world. But you came into his life and made everything so wonderful."

"What does he do for a living?" she wondered.

"He works at the Riverton Police Headquarters, as controller for a hi tech security system that works as the eyes and ears of the whole town. And he has a link to Inspector Gadget, he can reach him through an internal wire. Sometimes they have nothing to do and they play games with the combat simulation equipment. They're not supposed to and Quimby yells at them for it, but they've had some good times."

Penny laughed.

"I can't wait to meet him," she replied.

"It will be quite a few years before that happens," he told her, as he silently wondered how long it would be until he was back in his own time and reunited with his wife.

"See you soon," he added, "And do tell John not to worry – I won't be long."

And then he left the house, feeling more lost than he cared to admit; the world as he knew it, the future world where he finally had a happy life, was many years away and if he thought about it too much, he felt trapped.

Sanford walked to the end of the street, turned a corner and headed for town, where he planned to call a taxi and get over to the factory, and maybe find Jax Wilberforce...

* * *

A short while later John came home and went through to the kitchen and began to unpack the groceries.

Penny had just finished her homework and as she came into the kitchen, he turned and glanced at her.

"Is Sanford still asleep?"

"He went out," Penny replied, "He said he wouldn't be long, and he didn't want you to worry."

"Oh no!" John said, dumping the final grocery bag on to the middle of the table.

A bottle of milk fell on its side and the top cracked, as milk began to run in a white river and drip on to the floor, Brain wagged his tail as he started to lap up the spill.

"Penny, did he say where he was going?"

She shook her head.

John thought about it.

"He said he needs to put things right...would he be calling on Scolex at this time of night? Why would he be calling on anyone after dark...

The he recalled the look of desperation he had seen in Sanford's eyes as he had told him how he longed to change the past.

"I have to find him!" he exclaimed.

Then he began to think like a detective.

"Wait... he walks with a cane, okay he walks really well with it and hardly leans on it at all – but he wouldn't want to walk too far...he doesn't have a car...maybe he called a taxi!"

Penny dashed out the hall, and saw the open phone book.

"Uncle John! "She called, "I think I might have found a clue!"

"I'm glad one of us has!" he replied, as he joined her in the hallway.

But as he looked at the open phone book, he shook his head.

"There are hundreds of places listed here... all business addresses. This could take all night!"

Penny had just noticed something her Uncle had not – the note pad and pen had been moved from their usual place beside the telephone.

"I've got an idea!" she told him, and snatched up the note pad and ran upstairs.

Penny hurried into her room, grabbing a tall red desk tidy where she kept pens and pencils and after searching through the clutter, she smiled in triumph as she pulled out a worn down green crayon.

She set the pad on the desk and took the crayon and gently rubbed it across the paper.

As a copy of what had been written on the pad came up she smiled.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, then ran back downstairs and handed the paper to her Uncle.

As John glanced at it, the name meant nothing to him:

"Jaxon Wilberforce Industrial Co?" he wondered.

"We need to follow him!" Penny said.

John pulled his car keys from his pocket.

"_I_ need to follow him. You're staying here, Penny!"

"But I want to help!"

"And you're thirteen and this could get dangerous – sorry, the answer's No!"

Then he glanced through to the kitchen where Brain was still lapping at the milk running on to the floor.

"You could help me by cleaning up the mess. I won't be long, I'll get over there and make sure he's okay and come straight back!"

"But I want to help!" Penny whined.

"Sorry, I have to go." John replied, and hurried from the house and as she heard the car start up and leave the driveway as tires squealed, she went through to the kitchen.

Brain paused to look up at her, wagged his tail and carried on drinking.

"Oh well," Penny said aloud, "I guess I shouldn't cry over spilled milk, right Brain?"

The dog carried on drinking as Penny set the bottle upright and started to wipe the table.

"I won't always be a kid," she reminded herself, "Some day, I'll be a detective..."

* * *

As the taxi drove away, Sanford Scolex leaned on his cane and looked up at the factory belonging to Jason Wilberforce. As he took in the sight of the burnt out shell of the building, he felt as if his plans had been crushed: the fire had already happened.

Jax had burned it down, taken the money and would soon be in the process of using the cash from the insurance to start up the beginning of his business that would one day expand into Waking Dreams...

As he stood there looking at the blackened shell, he wondered if the past really could be changed:

_What if everything was predestined?_

_What if the past was impossible to change?_

Maybe time was part of an intricate design that was fixed, _incapable_ of change...

Sanford drew in a deep breath as the burnt out building stood stark against a night full of stars, while the glowing moon cast a silver light and made the world seem unreal, as if everything around him had been penciled in shades of lead, as if the world was paper thin and he was a mere sketch in the middle of a bigger picture.

_Perhaps time was like that._

_Perhaps time was thin as paper, and could tear as easily..._

This night felt drained of life, and as dark and dead as the blackened timbers that once held the sign that bore the name Jaxon Wilberforce.

The darkness of night reflected in his eyes, made cold by moon glow, the window to an angry soul as he turned and looked around the factory site.

And then he spotted a separate, temporary building beside the undamaged far side of the factory.

Sanford smiled a sly smile as he spotted a car parked outside...there was a light on, too.

"_Let's see if the future can't be changed,"_ he said in a low voice, and turned to the light and began to walk towards it.

* * *

In the temporary office building, Jax Wilberforce was busy gathering up paperwork as he cleaned out the last of his association with the factory site. As he stood there and put the last of the papers into a box, he chuckled.

"Onwards and upwards," he said aloud as he thought about his plans for his new business and how the insurance money would help him nicely on his way.

_And then the door opened._

Jax dropped the box on the table and took off his tinted glasses, staring at the tall man in the dark suit who stood framed by moonlight as his eyes burned with fury.

"Who are you?" he said nervously, remembering too late that the main phone had been disconnected and he was unable to call for help because his cell phone was in the car parked outside.

"I'll tell you who I am, Sanford said darkly, "I'm the one who came back to change everything, and that includes stopping you!"

He lunged at Jax, who was no match for his strength as Sanford slammed him against the wall and held him there, gripping the fabric of his jacket as he held his cane in his hand, the top of it almost jabbing Jax in the throat.

He took in a frightened breath as he saw murderous rage in the stranger's eyes.

"W...What have I done?" he said in a shaken voice, "I...I don't even know you!"

Sanford kept him pinned against the wall as his eyes blazed.

_"I know you,"_ he said bitterly, _"I know what you did!"_

Jax began to panic as he shook his head, his eyes growing wider as he thought about the fire at the factory and how it had led to an explosion.

"But I...I don't understand, I admit I set the fire! No one got hurt! And now I'm getting out of Riverton, I'm starting again, miles from here..."

"_I can't let you do that,"_ Sanford replied.

Jax felt his throat go tight as he looked at him fearfully and wondered if he was about to be murdered.

Tears filled his eyes as Sanford dug his fingers into his shoulders and glared at him.

"It's _not_ about the factory, you fool! It's nothing to do with now, it's later on, its what you do when you come _back_ to Riverton! If I don't kill you, I change nothing and you will cause a terrible accident and my closest friend will _die_ because of it!"

"What? I don't understand..." Jax stammered as he looked at him with eyes wide with fear.

"You planted the explosives, you blew up the bridge!"

"_What_ bridge? And _explosives?_ I know _nothing _about this!"

Sanford took in a slow breath, trying to keep his temper in check long enough for Jaxon Wilberforce to understand why he had to die...

"That's because it hasn't happened yet," he said, "But it will, it _will _happen because you're following the same path you did before! I know what's going to happen because I've already lived it. So I came back through time to find you!"

Jax was trembling as he looked back at him in terror. Sanford had already worked out that Jax was no fighter; he would rather run from trouble than try and stand up for himself.

_He would be easy to wipe out..._

"The world won't miss you," he said in a low voice, and hurled Jax to the floor.

He landed hard on his side and gave a cry of pain, turning over just in time to see the stranger stand over him and tug off the skin from his right hand. He gave a gasp as he lunged at him, pinning him to the floor as he flexed robotic fingers and then settled them cold about his throat.

"I'm Sanford Scolex," he said, as he slightly increased pressure, "And more than fifteen years from now you plant explosives beneath the Riverton Bridge. You do it just before you take the easy way out, like the coward that you are! You're on the floor dying from an overdose and you leave it too late to warn him about the bridge!"

Jax was breathing hard and his eyes were wide as he looked up at the man who was about to crush his windpipe.

"Who? Who do I kill?"

"_Inspector Gadget, my dearest friend!"_

The name meant nothing to him.

"I won't kill anyone...I'll _never_ come back to Riverton, please, let me live!"

Tears were burning in Sanford's eyes as the thought struck him that he had the chance now he was back in the past to prevent his younger self from ever turning to crime – including murder. _If he also spared the life of Jax Wilberforce, it would mean that when he returned to the future, he would never have had blood on his hands..._

"Please..." Jax gasped as the metallic hand gripped at his throat.

"Gadget is dying because of the injuries you caused when the bridge blew! I've enough on my conscience without allowing _your_ actions to go unchanged!"

"Please...I don't know what you're talking about!" Jax sobbed, shaking with fear as Sanford kept a hold on his throat.

"_It's your fault!"_ Sanford raged, _"You built Waking Dreams and then the time machine, that's how I found you – I used it to come back and kill you!"_

A sudden flicker of recognition came to his eyes as Jax gave a gasp.

"I built it?"

"_You'll never get the chance," _Sanford replied, and began to squeeze his throat.

Jax weakly struggled and coughed and fought for air and Sanford watched him struggle, feeling no compassion for the man who, as far as he was concerned, had sentenced Gadget to death.

"_Let him go, Sanford!"_

He relaxed his grip on Jax, who fell back coughing and grasping at his throat as Sanford turned to see John Brown standing in the open door way holing a gun in his hand.

"Step away from him!" he stated, "Nobody's getting killed. Don't make me pull the trigger."

Sanford grabbed at the side of the desk and got up, leaning on his cane for support.

"_Why did you follow me?"_ he said angrily.

And as John spoke again, he caught a look in his eyes that reminded him of the cyborg detective he would one day become.

"Because I knew there was something going on," he replied, "And I don't want anyone getting hurt."

Jax struggle to sit up, and leaned heavily against the wall as he tried to get his breath back.

"I don't know what this is about!" he said tearfully as he put his hand to his aching throat, "I haven't killed anyone!"

"_Yet,"_ Sanford added darkly.

John closed the office door and went over to a small drinks cabinet. He grabbed a glass and filled it with scotch and handed it to Jax, who was shaking as he pulled out a chair and sat heavily at his desk.

Jax took a sip of whiskey and then set the glass down, looking back at John.

"Thank you," he said quietly, "You saved my life."

"Don't thank me just yet," John replied, "We need to figure out what to do, I mean about the future. I heard every word, Sanford," he added, "You wanted to kill Jax because he injured your friend Gadget?"

Sanford nodded.

"It seemed like the most effective way to alter the outcome."

Jax rubbed his throat again and his hand shook heavily as he drank come more of the whiskey.

"If you killed me," he pointed out, "I won't live to build the time machine. _Think about it_."

Sanford closed his eyes as he gave a weary sigh.

"I've been such a fool!" he said.

"We can work something out, we just have to think about the future and how to avoid certain outcomes," John suggested.

Sanford looked at Jax, and then turned back to John.

"How do we do that?"

"Well obviously _not_ by killing Jax!" he replied, "There's another way. We just have to be calm and figure it all out."

Jax breathed a relieved sigh and swallowed more whiskey.

Sanford slowly nodded in agreement.

"I guess you're right," he replied, "But I'm not sure where to start..."

And as the three men fell silent and began to think about the possibility of an altered future, John felt sure their efforts would pay off somewhere far away in time, that something would change – hopefully, for the better.

* * *

No one spoke a word as Jax poured another drink, took a large mouthful of whiskey and then breathed out slowly as the ache around his throat began to subside.

Sanford had replaced the skin covering over his cybernetic hand, as he looked down at it he thought how he had almost done a terrible thing – _used a design from the future of cybernetics as a weapon..._

It was Jax who spoke up first.

He took another drink, paused to swirl the liquid in the glass and then set it back down on the table.

"You said I take an overdose? _Me, on drugs? It's impossible!_"

Anger flared up in Sanford's eyes like a rising heat as he made a move to step closer to Jax, but John grabbed his arm and tugged him back and spoke up hoping to defuse yet another potential fight.

"I don't know about the future. Only Sanford knows..."

And he glanced at him.

Sanford was struggling to keep his temper in check as he glared at Jax.

"How very typical of you to worry about _yourself_ at a time like this! You blew the bridge and Gadget went off the road! He tore a main cable in his neck and he's dying because of it, because of you!"

"No wait, Sanford – he wants to know about his future. Maybe you should tell him."

Sanford looked across the room at Jax.

"A few years from now your business expands exactly the way you want it to. You're involved in so many different branches of science and research that you become a very powerful man. You create an intellect boosting spray that enables you to fulfill your ambition to invent a time machine. But you go too far with your other projects; you create addictive leisure programs and then set about extorting money from your customers. People get desperate to use the machines... It causes utter chaos. And that's when you prime the explosives and take the overdose. You managed to warn someone before you died, but it was too late for Gadget – he was halfway across the bridge when the detonation occurred. _So you'll have to forgive me for my lack of sympathy for your demise, Jax_."

Jax took another drink and drew in a sharp breath as he thought about all he had learned.

"_I die?"_ Fear reflected in his eyes.

"Maybe not," John replied, "You could always change it. If you don't build the machines, if you don't cause trouble – maybe you won't commit suicide. And as long as you don't plant the explosives, Gadget won't get hurt."

And John smiled as he glanced to Sanford and back to Jax.

"It seems to make sense to me."

Jax said nothing as he poured yet another drink and his hand still shook as he thought about a future that led his own death.

"We should leave," John said.

"But I haven't finished–"

"Yes you have, Sanford. Look at him..."

Sanford turned to Jax, who was still drinking to get over the shock of it all.

He looked back at him with frightened eyes.

"I won't forget this," Jax said in a hushed voice, "I swear, I'll remember everything... I understand about the mistakes I make. I have to be sure it doesn't happen."

John turned to Sanford.

"Let's go," he said quietly, "I think you've done as much as you can to change what happens to your friend."

And he opened the door and went outside, and Sanford followed him.

"But how can we be sure he's going to listen?"

John got in the car and Sanford got in beside him.

"Because he's just learned the truth about his own life and how it ends. I'd say that's enough to make _anyone_ rethink their plans."

"Maybe," Sanford said quietly, and John started the car and they drove away, heading for home.

* * *

It was early morning and Gadget was in a private room at the cybernetics center.

His trench coat was folded neatly on a chair and he had placed his hat on top of it.

"Are you okay?" Bess asked as she noticed the worried look on his face.

"No, I'm not," he said quietly, "I feel nervous as hell about having this cable fixed. What if it goes wrong and they cant put the pump back?"

Bess shook her head.

"That's not going to happen, Gadget! Brenda sent me a summary of how the procedure's done and it's really simple. You can have it done here in this room, you don't even need to go through to the lab. It's not major surgery."

"But it's going to make the difference between life and death for me."

Gadget stripped off his shirt, placed it over the back of the chair and looked at the bed, and hesitated.

"_I don't want to go through with this..."_

Bess stepped closer and took hold of his hands as she looked into his eyes.

"If it fails, you can have the pump back. The leak is slowly progressing - it's _not _getting heavier. That means so far, it's all good. Don't think about what could go wrong, please..."

She reached up and ran her hand over his hair.

"I love you," she said warmly, and Gadget looked into the eyes of his beautiful, cybernetically modified lover and managed to smile.

"I want you to stay. I'm not too proud to admit I need you there to hold my hand."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else," she promised him.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

Then he took in a breath but it didn't seem to reach far enough as a wave of dizziness swept over him.

"Gadget?"

"Bess, I don't feel so good, I think I'm going to..."

He tried for another breath, and the room went black.

* * *

Gadget opened his eyes slowly as Bess said his name.

He looked up at her and felt confused as he realized he was now on the bed. He glanced over at the chair where his shirt was draped and his coat folded with his hat on top of it.

"What happened?"

"You fainted," Bess told him, "You just got worked up and passed out on the floor. Try to stay calm, honey. This will be over soon."

He heard Brenda speak his name and he turned to see her standing at the other side of his bed.

"I want you to turn your head and look at Bess," she told him, "I'm going to open up a small section of cybernetic skin that runs along the side of your neck. That will give me access to the pipes and expose the damaged cable. Don't be scared, Bess can see what's happening. I'll get on with it and get this over with for you, okay?"

"Okay..." Gadget said nervously, and he turned his head and looked at Bess.

"Keep looking at me," she reminded him.

Gadget laughed nervously.

"I _love_ looking at you."

He caught his breath as Brenda peeled back the artificial skin that covered the side of his neck.

"Okay Gadget that's perfect, don't move." Brenda told him.

"I won't!" he assured her as he kept his gaze fixed on Bess.

"While you're getting fixed maybe we could talk about our plans," she said softly, tightening her grip on his hand, "I was wondering about having some more metal work done. What do you think about that?"

And as Brenda carefully disconnected the pipes from the faulty cable, she laughed.

"Good grief! Do I have to listen to this stuff while I'm working?"

"You want some more?"

Gadget took in a sharp breath as he felt a tugging sensation in his throat. He took in a couple of shallow breaths as he tried to hold back from panic, then he focused on Bess once more.

"What mods are you thinking about?"

She smiled.

"Let's just say I want something a little more _intimate_ this time..."

And she lowered her voice.

"But you'll have to ask me to do it, honey...you _know_ I like that..."

Brenda had just slid the pipes out of his neck, leaving them trailing free over the edge of the table.

"I'm trying really hard _not_ to listen to this conversation!" she said as she started to smile.

As she raised the main cable from his neck, Bess glanced away and looked back at Gadget.

"She's fixing the cable now. It won't take long..."

As Gadget and Bess talked about their plans, Brenda cautiously held the cable raised from his body as far as it could go without the weakness becoming damaged further.

"Do you feel okay?" she asked him.

"I can feel you pulling on something in my neck but it's not painful," he replied, and kept his gaze fixed on Bess.

"I'd love you to have more work done," he said quietly, "I can think of a few places where I'd love to see some metal..."

"Me too," Bess replied.

Brenda began to apply the sealant, watching as it shimmered like metal and began to set rapidly around the cracked cable.

"It looks like it's working," she said, "I have to make sure its flexible and then I'll seal it again with a second coat. This is looking good, Gadget."

He smiled as he heard her say that and looked at Bess with relief shining in his eyes as he held her hand tightly.

"Its working!"

Then his smile faded.

He could feel Brenda tugging at the cable and it felt odd to think an internal cable was currently raised out of his body, but that was not the reason why his joy had faded so quickly.

"Sanford's done this for nothing," he said quietly, "He went back to stop it happening because he thought I was dying. He doesn't even know that's not the case now..."

"And as soon as you're fit for duty, if he's not back, I'm sure Quimby will let you go after him and find him again." Bess replied, "But let's hope it doesn't go that far. The machine is supposed to be bringing Him back today. If it does, you won't have to go anywhere."

Brenda carefully laid the cable back into place.

"Gadget, the sealant is working. The leak's been stopped and the cable is strong, flexible and watertight."

He breathed out a sigh of relief.

"It's really fixed?"

"Yes it is," she told him, "And this now means that we have a cure for main cable damage, too – I'm so glad Dr Todd came up with the idea!"

"I'd like to meet him," Gadget told her, "I want to say thank you."

Brenda thought about the circumstances he was not aware of.

"I'd like you to meet him too, he worked on the Gadget Project many years ago. He helped with part of your design."

"He did?"

"He rebuilt your face with a replica of his own," Brenda replied, "He had just created the first cybernetic face when you were caught in the explosion."

"He looks like me?"

"Yes he does and sounds like you," she replied, "And that's where all the similarity ends."

Bess was gathering up the pipe work and slowly drawing it up through his open neck.

"I never knew that," Gadget said, "I knew I looked a little bit different after the explosion, but I didn't know my face had so much work done to it...I've got to meet this guy!"

"I'm taking the pump out now, straight through the opening in your neck. Take a deep breath, this won't be comfortable but it _will_ be very quick."

A flicker of fear showed in his eyes as he looked at Bess and gripped her hand harder.

"It's okay," she reminded him, "It's over now..."

Gadget took in a deep breath, and then fought for air as something heavy was dragged upwards and out of his throat.

He fought for breath again and this time, the breath came easily.

And then he closed his eyes, breathing easier, not wanting to look at the machinery Brenda had just removed from his body.

She pushed the artificial skin back together and sealed it up.

"Gadget," she said gently, "You can stop worrying now – your cable is fixed good as new."

He cautiously turned on to his back, feeling stiffness in the side of his neck where the repaired cable was settling down.

"_I'm cured?"_

Bess had tears in her eyes as she smiled.

Brenda was smiling too.

"Yes you are, the crisis is over."

"_Wowser! I can't wait to get back to work!"_

"Not yet," Brenda warned him, "Moving the cable caused pressure on your spine and the connection that leads into the electronic part of your brain. You have to rest for a few hours, and if you get headaches or back pain just tell Bess and she'll give you some pain relief."

"But I want to get over to Braydon Industries."

"Not yet," Brenda replied, "Give it a few hours, you _have_ to rest for a little while."

He gave a sigh of frustration.

"Okay, but no longer – I have a case to be working on!"

As Bess reminded him yet again that he needed to rest for just a short while longer, Brenda left the room with a smile on her face – it was good to see Gadget back to his old self so quickly, and so eager to get back on duty once more, even if his plans did involve a dangerous assignment if the machine did not return Sanford as planned...

* * *

Back in 1998, as Jax Wilberforce drove away from Riverton, he felt relived to be getting far away from the man from the future who had threatened to kill him.

The further he got from the town, the more his fears slipped away and he started to think about his plans:  
_Yes, one day he would build a time machine._

But he would stay away from drugs, and then the overdose would not happen. He didn't know about the bridge yet – he couldn't decide what to do until the time came, because he was sure he must have had a good reason for planting those explosives, and he had to watch out for himself before he worried about others, people far off in the future who meant nothing to him.

Jax drove off into the night, deciding to follow his original plans, but to keep the warnings in mind, mainly to save his own skin...

_And that choice caused a ripple that was felt far off in the future:_

Up in Braydon Industries, the time machine created by Jax whilst using the intelligence booster shimmered, and the box that housed the controls shifted, the lower panel where the recall device was set changed shape, and the timer counting down froze at eight hours before return. The recall device had altered, jammed and left Sanford Scolex stuck in the past, but no one knew it yet, because the lab was dark, it was locked up and the change would not be spotted until morning:

_As small part of history had just been rewritten, leaving Sanford trapped in the past..._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Four hours after the sealant had fixed the cable, Gadget was up and dressed and pacing the room as he waited for Chief Quimby to answer his phone. It rang and rang and Gadget was about to hang up as he cast a glance at Bess, who sat patiently on a chair by the window and watched as her lover became more and more frustrated that he couldn't dive straight back into danger.

For Bess, that came as a relief – she wanted to take him home and insist that he rested some more, but a sinking feeling deep inside told her she ought to know him far better than that – _Gadget wanted to be in the middle of the action, even though it was unlikely he would get permission to do so..._

Finally Quimby answered the call.

"Yes, Gadget?" he said, and sounded weary.

"Sir, I've got some good news! My cable problem is fixed! Brenda used an experimental sealant and it's completely fixed, I'm fit for duty –"

"Gadget, you may as well go home and rest," Quimby replied, "I don't know how this happened – I have an idea it _could_ be something to do with Sanford being back in the past, at least that's Dr Todd's theory – but something has started to change and it seems to be a direct result of Sanford meddling with the past. The time machine controls have altered, the recall circuit is completely different to how it looked yesterday and the timer's jammed. Until Dr Todd can fix it, Sanford's stuck in the past. And while he's there, I can only guess at what else will be changing around here!"

"So send _me_ back to find him! At least if I'm with him I can keep him out of trouble - you said the recall's changed, but not the outgoing controls?"

"No, the ability to leave is unchanged, its just the recall that will take a lot of time to figure out. But I can't take a chance on losing you too, Gadget. It's too risky."

"_But I have to find Sanford!"_

There was a pause. When the Chief spoke again, his voice was sharp as his temper began to rise.

"Gadget, I'm very happy for you that the cable problem is resolved. It means you get your life back. Please don't put it at risk, you've got too much to lose. I won't be giving you permission to use the machine. Not now, tomorrow – or next week. The answer is _No_."

Gadget gave a heavy sigh as the Chief told him to go home and take it easy and enjoy feeling better again. Then he told him to take a couple of weeks off, because he deserved it.

As the Chief hung up Gadget looked at Bess.

"He won't give me permission to look for Sanford."

"Good!" Bess replied, "I know he's your best friend but you've been through a terrible time, I've been through it with you, too. It wasn't easy for me, sitting back feeling helpless while you had that broken cable inside you! He's right, you _should _take some time off."

Gadget stepped closer to her.

He looked into her eyes, then ran his hand over the sleek metal work that blended into her flesh.

"I love you so very much," he said softly, "And I want to marry you and for us to be happy – _but when I come back_."

Her eyes grew wider as she understood what he had just implied.

"You're going back anyway? Even after Quimby said No?"

"I've got no choice," he told her, "Sanford took a risk for me and now he's paying the price. He did it thinking I was dying. He doesn't know it didn't work out like that! He did it for me, so I should go back and find him, I owe it to him."

"Please don't do this, think about it –"

Gadget pulled her close, cutting off her words with a kiss. Then he held her tightly, crushing her against a cyborg body that felt hard as steel beneath his trench coat.

"I'll bring him back," he promised, and then he let her go and walked out of the room.

Bess hurried after him, calling his name, but Gadget stepped into an elevator without looking back and headed for the ground floor.

* * *

In the parking area below Braydon Industries, Kramer sat in the front seat of the newly repaired Gadget Mobile and pushed in a connection and smiled as the screen lit up.

The computerized face looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Kramer? Where's G Man?"

"From what Dr Bradford told me, he's getting a cable problem fixed. And then he's going to want you back as soon as possible, because he'll soon be fit for duty again!"

The face looked at him. And then as the car remembered the bridge cracking and falling apart, the face flipped over in alarm.

"I crashed! I did it, _me_, I crashed us into the riverbank! _How could I be so useless?_"

"It was a bomb under the bridge," Kramer explained, "You didn't see it coming. No one could have known. Gadget was hurt pretty badly but he's fixed now, he's better. You've been in repairs for more than a week!"

_"Take me to Gadget!"_

"Not yet," Kramer replied, "He's just had his cable fixed. And with Brenda so busy, Taylor asked me to take over fixing you. I don't think you'll see Gadget for a while. I expect Brenda will want him to go home and rest for a few days."

"So I have to sit around doing nothing?"

"No, Gadget Mobile – you can come with me. You can see Robo Gadget and Robo Brenda. And on Friday I'm taking Cindi on a date – you can drive us!"

"_I want G Man."_

"I'm sorry, you'll have to wait!"

"_No, I want Inspector Gadget!"_ the car yelled.

Then as Kramer got out of the car and leaned over the closed door to tell the Gadget Mobile he couldn't have his own way, he stopped as he heard footsteps. He looked up to see a man approaching, a man who cast tall shadow against the artificial lighting.

He stared for a moment, noticing the way the shadow looked like a man in a trench coat and a fedora hat.

Then he stepped closer and as the light fell on him, Kramer's eyes lit up.

"Don't you _ever_ stop complaining?" said Inspector Gadget, as he looked at the car and smiled fondly.

"G Man!" the car exclaimed, "You're back!"

"Yes, and I'm ready for duty!" Gadget replied.

Then he turned to Kramer.

"Is the car fixed?"

"Running perfectly – but I thought Brenda was going to send you home to rest for a few days?"

"I don't need rest, I've got a case to solve, "Gadget replied, and he got into the car, closed the door and the engine fired up.

"What case?" Kramer wondered, but small blue rockets unfolded and burst into life as the Gadget Mobile roared off through the parking area towards the exit.

* * *

When Gadget arrived at Braydon Industries, he parked the car and looked down at the face on the screen. The Gadget Mobile had not shut up since he had got in the car.

He knew the car had missed him, he understood it needed to talk about the incident on the bridge, and as the car spoke up again, he felt slightly guilty.

"I was _so_ worried, Gadget! But now we're a team again!"

"You couldn't have stayed on the road when the bridge split," Gadget said, "Jax Wilberforce set the explosives up, he's the one to blame. There's nothing you or I could have done to avoid the crash. Now forget about all that, I've got something important to do."

"Will you be long?" asked the Gadget Mobile.

He hated to lie to the car after all that had happened, but he could only imagine how worried the Gadget Mobile would be if it learned the truth – that he was planning to go back in time, to a time when there _was_ no Gadget Mobile...

"You'll have to be patient," he replied, "This could take a while. I'll see you soon."

And then Gadget walked into Braydon Industries, feeling the weight of his guilt increase – he had never lied to the Gadget Mobile before, and now he was about to deliberately disobey the order of Chief Quimby; this was also a first – and the last time that he intended to go against orders, but like Sanford, when he had decided to use the machine without permission, Gadget knew he was doing it for the right reasons:

It made perfect sense for him to go back and stop his closest friend, before his actions in the past caused disaster.

He was sure the Chief was merely being protective, thinking of his recent injury with the main cable, that had to be the only reason why he wasn't putting his finest crime fighter on to this case.

But now it was Gadget's case, he _was_ getting involved, whether the Chief liked it or not...

* * *

The guards who stood outside the door to the lab stepped aside and one paused to open up the door for him; no one thought anything out of place to see Inspector Gadget walk into the lab...

He closed the door behind him.

As the door closed, the man who was kneeling on the floor working on an open control panel stopped and got up.

"I've fixed the recall circuit," he said, "Someone had better call Chief Quimby and let him know the effect won't be immediate...we have to wait it out -"

Then he looked at Gadget, staring in surprise.

Gadget stared back him.

_The man looked just like him..._

Felix spoke first.

"You must be Inspector Gadget. I'm Dr Felix Todd."

Gadget took a step closer and smiled.

"Brenda told me everything. I know it's been a few years, but thank you for what you did for me. I always knew I'd changed somewhat, I mean in my face and my voice - but I was more concerned with getting used to the cyborg body. I never knew someone rebuilt my face for me. But now I know, I'll always be grateful to you."

Felix smiled too.

"Don't be too grateful – you're stuck with _my_ face for the rest of your life!"

"And I'm happy with it," he assured him.

Gadget offered him his hand.

"It's good to meet you, Felix."

And the two men shook hands.

Then Gadget thought of Sanford and turned his mind back to the time machine.

"So you don't know when you can bring Sanford back?"

"I do, but it the effect won't be immediate. I've reset the programming – but it won't kick in for at least three days. ."

Gadget's eyes clouded with worry.

"I have to go back and find him before he causes more damage. I can't leave him alone in the past for seventy-two hours!"

Felix looked at him.

Gadget looked back at Felix.

_"I need your help."_

"What do you want me to do?"

_"Send me back to 1998."_

Felix took in a breath and glanced back at the machine, and then he turned to Gadget once more.

"We would both get in a lot of trouble. I'm not sure about this...I understand you want to save your friend, I get what you mean about the harm he could do but –"

"My cable damage is fixed," Gadget told him, "That's something else I have to thank you for. The only reason Quimby won't send me back is because he's scared I'm not ready for it, he's just trying to look out for me and he's not thinking of the bigger picture!"

"Well I have to agree the sealant works immediately so there's no reason to think it would pose additional risk," he replied, "But I can't send you back without authorization..."

Gadget looked at the man who looked just like him and smiled.

"_I've got a plan...just hear me out."_

Felix listened to Inspector Gadget's plan.

Then he thought for a moment and nodded_._

"_I must be crazy..." _he muttered, as Gadget dashed off after promising to be back in twenty minutes.

Then he turned back to the machine and finished fixing the panel back into place, and he then called Chief Quimby to tell him the circuit had been fixed, but he had to leave now – there was a family crisis, and he would be gone at _least _a couple of days...

* * *

Gadget arrived back fifteen minutes later, and as he dashed into the lab, Felix looked at him nervously.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, you're a heavily modified cyborg and I'm completely human –"

"But we look alike and sound alike," Gadget reminded him, handing him a spare trench coat and hat, "I've just had the cable fixed and everyone wants me to take it easy, even Bess."

"Bess?" he asked as he slipped on the trench coat.

"My girlfriend - she's heavily modified..."

Gadget paused as he thought for a moment.

"I have microchips in the middle of my chest. _Don't_ take your shirt off. When you get back to my place, there's a spray in the bathroom, it's oil based, I use it for my metal plating on my lower body...spray it on, then you'll smell more like a seventy percent cyborg!"

And he paused again, recalling how their love life had become even more adventurous since Bess had undergone the modifications.

"Just tell her you're tired, or you don't feel too good. I was told I might get headaches or back pain after the cable repair. Use that to get time on your own. Besides, as I've just had the cable fixed she won't want me to do anything other than rest. Just tell her you're going to spend three days taking it easy. And the Gadget Mobile won't be able to pick up my signal. When you get in the car, tell him the signal keeps coming and going because..." Gadget searched desperately for an excuse, then snapped his fingers as a plan came to mind, "Tell the Gadget Mobile you've shut down all your gadget functions, including the tracking device, because you have to have total rest for the next seventy two hours. You can say that to anyone who asks – then you won't be expected to use gadgets you don't have!"

Felix looked at him apprehensively.

"Are you sure I can pass myself off as you?"

"We look and sound alike, why not? Just go back to my house, pretend to be me and take it easy for three days. I'll handle the fallout when I get back, I'll take the blame for everything. Don't worry. Think about the risk to the timeline if we don't do this."

Felix put on Gadget's spare hat.

"Let's do it," he said, and then activated the panel, explaining to Gadget as he worked:

"I've set your destination for 1998, a day after Scolex arrived – I'm setting your return for the same time as Scolex. Because of the change in the timeline that caused the machine to change its recall function, I've altered the time of his return. That means you should both get pulled back around the same time, three days from now...I hope you find him, Gadget."

Then he stood back leaving Gadget between the two glowing panels.

"Are you ready? I've heard this thing's a bitch when it hits you, so get ready for it. Right after the scan confirms your cyborg percentage, the activation button will start up the power."

"Wait..."

Gadget slipped off his tie and handed it to Felix.

"I always wear it," he told him, and Felix quickly put it on. As he was adjusting it, the red light bathed Gadget in a glowe, then shut off and the display confirmed he was seventy percent cyborg.

Felix straightened his tie and turned back to Gadget.

"How do I look?" he said, standing there in his hat and trench coat as he waited for an answer.

"You look like me," he replied, "Okay I'm ready...send me back."

Felix looked into Gadget's eyes and saw his own reflected in the brave cyborg who was prepared to risk everything to save his friend and preserve the course of history.

"Good luck," he told him, and hit the button.

The panels glowed, there was a rush of wind and the lights flickered.

Gadget closed his eyes and then caught his breath as power rushed through his body, and then he was gone.

Felix grabbed some scattered paperwork and put it back on the table, then he turned to a mirror, feeling startled to see himself looking exactly like Inspector Gadget. He adjusted his hat, straightened his tie and brushed down his trench coat.

"Will I really get away with this?" he wondered, and then he had no time to think about it, because the door opened and Chief Quimby came into the room.

"What happened?" he demanded, "I was on my way up here and the lights went crazy!"

"Power cut?" Felix suggested, looking nervously at the Chief.

But Quimby looked back at him and just saw Gadget.

"Where's Dr Todd? I came over to speak with him, I wanted to catch him before he left –"

"He left a while ago," Felix replied, "But he said the time machine's working...the recall circuit's been fixed to return Scolex in approximately seventy-two hour's time. This room must remain locked – don't allow anyone near it until I get back."

"What?"

He realized his mistake at once.

"I mean...until _Dr Todd_ gets back, that's what he told me to tell you, Chief Quimby."

The Chief's expression softened as he walked over to him and put a friendly arm around his shoulder and began to steer him towards the door.

"Come on, Gadget," he said kindly, "I know how hard it must have been, going through all that worry over getting the cable fixed. Brenda told me you passed out. You really should go home and rest. I'll walk you back to the Gadget Mobile."

Felix gave a relieved sigh as they left the lab and the door locked behind them.

"That's what I want to do, Chief Quimby sir –"

"Why are you being so formal, Gadget? You're off duty! None of that _sir _stuff..."

The elevator opened and they both went inside and Quimby hit the button for the ground floor.

"I expect you're looking forward to spending time with Bess," Quimby remarked as the elevator began to glide downward.

"Yes, I'm planning to have at least three days total rest. I'm not using my gadgets, I'm not doing any police work...I'm just going to rest, like Dr Bradford told me to."

They reached the ground floor and the doors opened.

As they left the elevator and headed for the exit, Quimby looked at him and smiled.

"It's so good to see you taking advice for once, Gadget! I'm very happy that you've decided to do this – the main cable rupture was a serious injury, you need some rest... I know you're fixed now but it's not the point."

And he patted his back.

"We all care about you, Gadget."

"Thanks," he replied, "I'll see you later, Chief."

"Go home and take it easy," Quimby replied,

"I will," Felix added, and then he hurried out of the building towards the Gadget Mobile, wondering how difficult it would be to convince the car that he was Gadget...

* * *

"Good to see you back, Gadget!" the car announced as Felix got in the drivers seat and turned the key in the ignition.

"I'm going home," he said to the car, "I've decided to take Brenda's advice. I need to take it easy for a few days."

"_Easy?_ I thought you were back on duty..."

He looked down at the computerized face on the screen, who seemed to easily accept he was indeed looking up at Inspector Gadget.

"I don't want Bess to worry. So I decided I'll spend a few days at home, like Brenda wants me to."

"Okay, I'll run you home!" the Gadget Mobile replied, and Felix grabbed at the wheel in panic as the car took over and reversed out of the parking space, turning for the road.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing, Gadget? You want to take it easy, so I'm driving!"

Felix put on his seat belt and tried not to look too uneasy as the car turned out on to the highway and began to head for the coast.

"You're good at driving?" he wondered.

"You _know _I am!" exclaimed the car.

Felix began to relax.

"Sure I know, I was just kidding..."

They drove on, and then the car spoke up again.

"I don't mean to alarm you, G Man, but I can't pick you up on my scanner!"

Felix recalled what Gadget had told him to say.

"That's because my gadgets and most internal systems that are non essential are in shut down mode," he replied, "I'm taking no chances while I get over this cable repair."

"Thanks for explaining," the car replied, "I was worried – I thought you'd had a major malfunction!"

"No, I'm okay," he replied, and then said no more as they drove on towards the beach house and Felix thought about the real Inspector Gadget, sent back into the past so soon after the cable had been fixed, desperate to find his friend and prevent alteration to the time line. So much for him taking no chances_... Inspector Gadget was taking a tremendous risk, and he was the only one who knew about it..._

* * *

Gadget gave no thought to risk as the beams had cut through him and dragged him away.

He had thought of Sanford and how he needed to get back to the past and find him before it was too late and the future timeline was damaged.

Gadget landed hard on his feet, his back hit a wall and he caught his breath, slowly opening his eyes to be sure the blinding beam of light was gone. Then he took in a couple of deep breaths and took a step forward, pausing to look around:

Thi wasteland was the site where one day, Braydon Industries would stand...

He drew in another breath, feeling stunned that the machine had transported him back into the past.

Then Gadget walked towards a break in the fencing and stepped out, feeling a rush of emotion as he took in the sight of the town as it had been so long ago:

This was the way he recalled it from the days when the Gadget Mobile was just his white convertible, and he worked at the lab as a security guard...

In the days when his body was human, undamaged by the explosion.

_All of the pain was yet to come._

Thinking on that, he envied his younger self, who still had a year of normality, who was unscarred, human and whole and unaware of what the future had in store...

"_Stop it,"_ Gadget muttered to himself as he walked along old familiar streets, _"Don't torment yourself..."_

He had made a decision, and stuck to it always – that he would never look back with regret and mourn the loss of his human body.

To Gadget it seemed the perfect antidote for the depression and pain and that would have followed if he had not forced himself to be positive.

His attitude was his way of coping and surviving and making the most of it.

He thought of Bess, and love warmed him through as he remembered that if he had never become a cyborg, he never would have discovered body mods and all the wonderful doors that preference had opened up in their private life. He had a truly happy life back in his own time.

_It made no sense to yearn for a past that he knew could not be changed, because he was Gadget now, and always would be..._

A tall, dark building loomed up in the distance. This was the business premises of the younger Sanford Scolex, the man destined to become Claw. He thought about entering that building and finding him – _but then what?_

It seemed too risky; he was not only full of gadgets, but upgrades from the future too – he could only imagine what would happen if the younger Sanford captured him and dissected him and used future technology to build machines the world was not ready for...

_Time travel was dangerous_.

He knew it instantly as he considered his situation, and then he wished Sanford had spent more time thinking before he had acted on impulse and jumped into the time machine...

_Where was Sanford?_

He paused and looked around the busy street.

Gadget wondered where he would go first of all.

"If it was me, I'd go home," he said quietly.

And then he got a sudden idea, and it made perfect sense:  
Perhaps Sanford would have gone looking for John Brown. It made sense that he would want to wait before confronting his younger self – a task he imagined Sanford was most likely dreading...

Gadget turned back and began to walk towards the end of the street, where he knew a short cut through back roads that would eventually lead to the little house where he used to live with his young niece Penny.

* * *

Felix had relaxed with the idea of the car driving for him, and by the time they arrived outside the beach house, he felt a little more confident – he had already fooled the Chief of police as well as Gadget's own sentient vehicle, so fooling his girlfriend didn't seem so daunting all of a sudden.

He got out of the car, turning back sharply on hearing it shut down and begin to snore, and then he opened the gate, went up the path and reached in his pocket, drawing out a bunch of keys that that had house keys on it as well as the car keys.

He searched through and found the one that seemed likeliest to fit, and to his relief it slid into the lock and turned with ease.

Felix closed the door behind him and noticed the hook on the wall, and took off his trench coat and hung it up, and then hung up his hat.

"Bess?" he called out, and his voice echoed down the long wide hallway that ran the length of the beach house.

"Gadget?" she called back, and his heart sank as his nervousness started up all over again; he had been hoping the place would be empty, to give him a chance to look around, maybe get some kind an insight into Gadget's life so he could get away with his disguise a little easier – but it was too late for that, Bess came out of the kitchen and hurried up to meet him.

"I'm so glad you came home! This is where you need to be, you need to rest –"

"And I'm going to do just that," he replied, "I'm home for the next three days, no gadgets, no work, just rest while I get over the cable repair."

As she stood there sleek and robotic-looking in a flimsy dress that was almost transparent, Felix tried not to think about her appearance too much:

He had always thought of himself as a normal guy, a down to earth kind of person, who liked normal relationships with ordinary girls...

_Girls who looked human._

But as she stood there telling him how relieved she was that he had decided to take Brenda's advice, he couldn't help looking at her in fascination. He wasn't used to hairless women covered in gleaming metal that ran through their flesh in decorative strips, but the more he looked at her, the more curious he became and the more curious he became, the more excited he got...

_"I need the bathroom!"_ he said suddenly, and dashed off as Bess watched in confusion as he opened a door and ran inside.

"That's the front room..."

He came back out, blushing as he tried to cover his embarrassment.

"I know, I guess I'm just tired..."

And then he glanced across the hall and spotted the bathroom through a door left partly open, it was luxurious and the floor was marble.

"I won't be a minute."

He hurried inside and locked the door.

Felix went over to the shelf that was filled with all kinds of bottles and oils and lotions.

He began to read the labels:

_"Cybernetic contact gel for intimate use? Massage oil, erotic heat cream for use on cybernetic sensors?"_

He shook his head as he decided he definitely did not want to run through the whole collection of potions Gadget and Bess kept in their bathroom..

Then he spotted a plastic bottle with a spray top.

There was a tub of hair gel on the shelf along with a comb, it had to be Gadget's because Bess didn't have any hair – and he guessed the spray was not hairspray, either...

He turned the spray around and smiled as he read the label.

"Got it!" he said, and quickly loosened his clothing and gave himself a fine mist of the oil based spray and then replaced it on the shelf.

The scent clung to him, making him smell more like a machine part than a man.

Then he unlocked the bathrom door and stepped outside, only to find Bess standing there watching him with a suspicious look in her eyes.

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing, I'm just not feeling too good, honey," he said, recalling Gadget's advice to blame the side effect of the cable repair, "I think I need to go and lie down."

She looked at him intently.

"You're in pain?"

"Yes, it's agony, honey. I need to rest."

Bess reached up and swept a cool hand over his brow.

"Good thing I'm here to take care of you," she said as her eyes lit up with warmth that seemed to extend beyond simple concern for his welfare, "Do you think you might need to take a lie down in your special room?"

And she started to walk up the hallway.

He followed, simply because he didn't know his way around Gadget's house yet.

"My _special room?_ That sounds perfect!"

Bess glanced back at him and smiled.

"Are you sure, after everything you've been through getting the cable fixed? I'll understand if you just want to go to bed or sit on the sofa and watch TV..."

"No," Felix said confidently, "My special room sounds perfect! I need to relax in my special way, total relaxation, that's what I'm after..."

Bess smiled again as she unlocked a door at the end of the hall.

"Im glad you love your special place so much," she said softly, and then she giggled, adding, "The stuff I had to get hold of took a lot of work! I even took old stock out of the cybernetics center..."

Felix looked at her and smiled.

"Just for my cyborg comfort? You're so kind, my darling."

"You deserve the best, Gadget," she replied, "And you'll get it today...I'll take good care of you, just the way you like it..."

And then she opened the door and he stepped inside.

"Just take your clothes off and put the bathrobe on," she told him, "I'll be five minutes..."

And she closed the door behind him.

Felix looked around the room as his eyes widened in panic:

_Relaxation? Was that some kind of joke?_

There was a long, narrow padded couch in the middle of the room. Next to the wall beside it there a sink with a heated rail where clean towels were folded. On a shelf beside that were bottles of massage oil designed for cyborg skin and metal plating. The table nearby was filled with what looked like medical equipment and as he saw monitors that looked like they belonged in a hospital, he felt more than a little uneasy.

He wanted to get out, but the room had a tiny window that was covered with frosted glass and it was way too small to climb through...

"I won't be a minute!" Bess called out.

And Felix quickly began to undress, leaving his clothing on a chair by the window and then he grabbed the bathrobe and put it on, wrapping it about his body carefully to ensure his human chest wasn't exposed.

Then he sat down on the couch, cautiously laying back and allowing it to recline halfway.

"Maybe she'll just leave me to sleep for a while." He said, but as she opened the door and came back into the room dressed in a short, white shiny dress that clung to her body, he knew that was _not_ going to be the case at all...

* * *

Bess walked over to him.

"Okay Gadget," she said sweetly, "Have you got real pain, honey? I mean from the cable procedure, because I need to fix that first before we do anything else."

And then she paused, wondering why he was looking at her so nervously.

"What's the matter? You look so scared – oh no, is it the cable? Brenda warned you about post operative pain!"

"My back is _really_ sore," Felix told her, "I don't think I can get up. It's best if you leave me here in our... _kinky room_ and just let me sleep."

Amusement danced in her eyes.

"Kinky room? You always call it our special place! You love the stuff we get up to in here!"

He swallowed hard and looked at her with frightened eyes.

"I do?"

Bess turned away and opened a cupboard and took something out.

From where he was on the couch he couldn't see what it was, and before he could ask her she began to speak:

"I've got something here to make you feel better, honey. It will kick in right away and you'll forget all about the pain."

_"Please don't let it be something that takes batteries!"_ he muttered under his breath, but as Bess turned round his eyes grew wider as he saw the loaded syringe in her hand.

"What is it?"

"Just regular standard pain relief, Gadget! One shot of this and –"

"I'll be in cuckoo land for the next eight hours, that's cybernetic analgesia, for _cyborgs!_"

Bess frowned.

"Well you're seventy percent cyborg, what did you think I'd give you, an aspirin? Gadget I'm a qualified cybernetic surgeon, I think I can safely give you a shot of mild pain relief!"

As she stepped closer, he looked at the liquid inside the syringe, recognising the distinct way the amber contents took on a white glow as it caught the light.

"That's cybercodroxine!" he exclaimed, "I'll be helpless!"

Bess giggled.

"Stop exaggerating, Gadget! It's standard pain relief for someone of your composition, and you'll soon feel nice and warm and relaxed...then we can get on and treat the _real_ problem..."

"What problem?" he said, his voice raised in panic as she came towards him with the syringe.

"You know," Bess said playfully, "_Somebody's_ pleasure sensors need a massage from an expert, don't they?"

"Don't undress me– I'm not fooling around, Bess, I mean it! I just want to lay here and sleep for a while!"

She made a move to pull up his sleeve.

"No, I don't need the injection, my back is fine now –"

"Gadget, will you just relax? You know this will fix you..."

"_No."_

He turned over on his front, hoping she would back off.

"Then I guess I'll have to put it into a human muscle," she replied, "it would have been better in your arm, straight through cybernetic skin... but maybe you'll be more comfortable like this as your back hurts so much...just hold still."

His eyes widened as she pushed up his bathrobe.

He gave a sharp gasp as the needle jabbed into his skin, went deeper as she injected and then she pulled it out again.

"There you go, all done," she told him, "Now you can relax and I can give you a massage... or do you want to give me one while we talk about the mods you want me to have?"

Felix gave a whimper.

"_You just stuck a needle in my butt!"_

She dropped the syringe in a waste disposal container and sat down on the edge of the couch.

"Honey, I am qualified to treat real pain, you know! This room isn't just for our private fun."

"Fun?" Felix exclaimed, "My butt hurts! I feel like I won't be able to sit down for a week!

And she laughed.

"Oh Gadget, stop it! You know you heal rapidly."

"No I won't..." he said, feeling the powerful drug begin to slow his senses, "That really hurt..."

And then Bess ran her hands over his body and her touch, even through the bathrobe felt warm and suddenly his worries were sliding away as the drug took hold, taking him over as he smiled, not caring that he had just been injected with a painkiller designed for cyborgs and he was completely human and therefore getting slightly high on it – her touch was soft and as she leaned over him, he smiled.

"_Don't undress me,"_ he murmured, _"But keep doing that, I like it..."_

And Bess continued to gently run her hands up his back and over his shoulders, as Felix gave a sigh and stopped fighting the sleepy, drunken sense of arousal that was creeping over him as Bess massaged him, believing he was Gadget...


	7. Chapter 7

Author Note: Please be aware his chapter contains a scene that *some* readers may consider erotic (Bess and modification discussion).

Chapter 7

As Gadget stood outside the small house where he had lived and enjoyed so many happy memories as John Brown, he felt an ache deep in his chest as if his titanium heart was trying to recall when the human heart had been in its place. He reached up and rubbed the side of his neck as an ache shot through it, and recalled Brenda's warning that the cable repair could cause him pain for some time. He had assumed he had got away with that after suffering no after effects in the first few hours, but now it was catching up with him.

Gadget focused on the house and let the memories flood back:

_He could picture Penny running out the gate as she hurried to catch the school bus, he recalled his old car, not the Gadget Mobile, but all the same, he loved that white convertible, it had been his pride and joy..._

Then as his gaze fell on a swing seat on the porch, the ache in his chest increased as he recalled holding Brenda Bradford in his arms and kissing her. But in those days, when he was getting used to his cyborg body he had pulled away from her, afraid to get closer. It was crazy, because she had rebuilt him - she knew what he looked like beneath his clothes..._flesh and machinery..._

But he hadn't been ready to go further. It had taken a long time to adjust to his robotic body, to accept it and until he was able to do that, he wasn't able to share his bed with a lover.

But his gaze still fixed on the swing seat as he recalled how it felt to hold her in his arms.

Then Gadget gave a sigh as he longed for one more night on that swing seat with his arm around Brenda, and then he cancelled the thought, remembering Bess was at home and waiting for him, even though now he was back in the past the future seemed so far off, so out of reach that he felt as if he had returned home in every way.

Gadget went up to the porch, noticing the car was missing.

He knocked on the door and got no answer.

"Go go gadget skeleton key," he said, and as the key slid from his fingertip, he used it to unlock the door before retracting the key once more.

As the door swung open, the past hit him with a wave of nostalgia; the whole place looked just he recalled it, there was even a faint trace left behind of the aroma of breakfast floating from the kitchen.

Then he thought about it:

It was morning. John would have finished his night shift at the lab a few hours back. Penny was at school...

So where _was _John?

He listened.

The house was silent.

Even Brain was absent.

He guessed John must have taken the dog with him in the car – but to where?

As he thought back to the old days, he remembered he always slept in until at least eleven thirty when he was working the night shift.

He glanced at the clock in the hallway: It was just gone nine thirty...

"_He's with Scolex!"_ he said aloud, and turned away from the house that held such precious memories and closed the door behind him.

Gadget went back up the path, out the gate and began to walk towards town, his thoughts on the dark tower where a young Sanford Scolex was making his plans for the domination of the cybernetics market...

* * *

Sanford sat in the front passenger seat of John's white convertible while Brain sat in the back, comfortable as he stretched out on the leather seat.

Sanford checked his watch, remembered it was cracked from the journey in the time machine, and checked the clock in the car. The time read just after nine thirty in the morning and he gave a sigh of frustration as he wished he had never told John that some day, he would date Brenda Bradford - because for John, _some day_ was too long to wait – he had decided to speed up destiny, and ask Brenda if she wanted to go for dinner at the weekend.

Sanford thought about time and how easily the future could be altered:

_Would there be any harm in it? _

_What difference would it make if John dated Brenda a year earlier? _

_Surely, everything would turn out the same..._

Then John left the building and Brenda walked with him as he went back over to the car.

Brenda was smiling and her eyes were sparkling as she looked at John.

"So you're sure you can go for dinner on Saturday? You're not working late or –"

She laughed.

"I will _definitely_ keep Saturday free for you," she promised him.

And as they looked at each other, their gaze lingered then Brenda turned back and walked into the lab.

John got back in the car and smiled.

"I can't believe how easy that was! I never thought she would be interested in me, but as soon as you told me about the future, I knew it was okay to ask her out!"

"I'm sure it won't harm the timeline," Sanford replied, "I mean, it happened before – there's no harm in events beginning earlier, is there?"

"I hope not," John replied, and then he fell silent as he started the car and tried not to think too much about the implications of meddling with the timeline too greatly...

* * *

As they drove away from the lab, John glanced to Sanford.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this? I mean, confronting yourself must be tough."

"Depends what kind of a life you've lived," he replied, "I'm ashamed of my younger self. He turned to crime. He was responsible for a lot of hurt, especially to Inspector Gadget. Now Jax is out of the way –"

"_We don't know that for sure."_

Sanford stared at him.

"But I _told_ him about the future, you said it yourself last night, he knows the truth now!"

"And it doesn't mean he will change everything. He may choose to change nothing at all and go on with his plans. Years will go by before he even considers the warning you gave him, you told him about the future, that's a place that's far off, Sanford."

"Not to me!" he said as tears filled his eyes and he thought of Penny and his baby son, "All I want to do is go back home!"

"That's because you've already lived the past," John reminded him, "For me, this is my present, I don't know what the future holds - apart from what you told me about Bess and Brenda."

"And perhaps it's better if it stays that way," Sanford said quietly, "All you need to know is, I have to speak to my younger self and stop him from making the biggest mistake of his life."

_"What is that mistake?"_

John was still watching the road.

Sanford closed his eyes as he drew in a breath and felt an ache deep in his heart as he recalled the night he had tossed the lit cigar into the wrecked car, triggering the explosion that destroyed John Brown's human body...

John glanced at him. Sanford opened tearful eyes and met his gaze with such regret reflecting there that it seemed his heart was broken.

"_I'm so sorry," _he said tearfully.

John turned the corner, drove down a side street and parked the car.

"What is it you're not telling me?"

Sanford looked back at John, seeing such kindness and concern in his dark eyes. Twelve months from now, most of him would be gone, replaced by the machinery that turned him from man to cyborg... He wouldn't even have his own face any more...

"I caused the explosion," he said in a hushed voice, "on the night I turned my hand to robbery. He tried to stop me and the wreck of his car was leaking gasoline...I could have left him there, I could have driven away and left him trapped in the wreckage. The car wasn't on fire, the only source of ignition was my lit cigar. I threw it into the car and..."

He stopped, drawing in a breath as he fought back tears of regret, _"And that was the end of his life as he knew it to be, but the start of Inspector Gadget."_

John had listened in silence, and now he felt a chill spreading over him as he wondered why he felt as if something was reaching out to him, as if he was closer to this story than he knew...

"So how come the two of you became friends?"

Sanford blinked and more tears ran down his face and his hand trembled as he brushed them away.

"I fought a war against Gadget. It lasted for years. And then one day, something in me, conscience, regret, call it what you will – became too great for me to ignore. I'd used a weapon that was very harmful to cyborg life. I used it on Gadget. He survived but became very ill. Then I was told I was his only hope, because he needed a tissue transplant and I was his closest match. I agreed to it, it purely for selfish reasons. And then I met him face to face and I knew for sure I had lived a terrible life, because I saw what a truly good man he was and I regretted every past mistake I'd ever made. We became friends. I used to be a lonely, bitter man and now that's all changed, it's all because of my friendship with Gadget! It's because of his ability to forgive me, too – he can forgive me much more than I can ever forgive myself."

So much sadness reflected in Sanford's eyes that John's heart ached for his situation.

"At least you became friends eventually," he reminded him.

"But I need to change everything; I need to undo the hurt I caused!"

John had been considering all Sanford had said.

"Is this really for Gadget, or is it about your _own_ conscience?"

Anger briefly flashed in Sanford's eyes.

"This is _not_ about me!"

"But some of it is – it has to be after what you've told me! I understand he's your friend and you regret the past – but you're messing around with everyone's past by making changes!"

Sanford shook his head.

"No, you're wrong! I want to _save_ him, John!"

"Yourself?" he wondered, remembering Scolex was planning to meet with his younger self.

"No, I want to save Inspector Gadget. I want to wipe out all the wrong I ever did. _What harm can I possibly cause by trying to do some good?_"

It was a question that seemed impossible to answer.

"I don't know." John replied, "Maybe none at all. Who knows how the future could change if you alter everything?"

"Well it can't get any worse," Sanford replied.

John reached for the keys to start the engine, but paused as he glanced back at Sanford.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sanford nodded.

_"I'm ready to look myself in the eye."_

John started the car and they drove on, heading for the business premises of Sanford's younger self.

* * *

Felix had briefly passed out as Bess rubbed his back.

As he opened his eyes again, her head was on his shoulder.

"How do you feel, Gadget?" she whispered, and despite the effect of the powerful cybernetic drug in his very human bloodstream, Felix cautiously checked his bathrobe, feeling relieved she had not untied it.

Then as she brushed her lips against his cheek, he smiled and closed his eyes again:

Of course she hadn't undressed him – if she had done that, she would have seen his human body and quickly worked out he wasn't Gadget... but she was next to him and he was too drugged to find his conscience and push her away.

"_You shouldn't have done that,"_ he murmured, _"I'm so tired but I feel so good..."_

"I could make you feel even better..."

Her hand slid across his chest, over the bathrobe and rested on his shoulder as she draped her arm around him.

He turned his head and looked at her:

Bess looked like a beautiful shimmering mix of smooth skin and gleaming metal.

He ran his hand over her head, and then slid his fingertips along the steel that ran down her spine.

She gave a gasp and arched her back.

"I love it when you touch me like that, my flesh and steel, put together just like your body was joined with machinery..._I don't mind the pain, I want more... I want to share your pain, I want to share the beauty of it all, the finished result..._ I want _more_ plating on my skin, Gadget... _Tell me_..."

Felix struggled to find an answer.

"Tell you what?" he wondered, not having a clue what kind of pillow talk Bess and Gadget shared.

"You know, what you say to me about how much do I want to give you?"

Felix turned on his side and looked into her eyes. He was sure if she hadn't shot him full of the drug, he would not still be here in this room, with his arm around another man's girlfriend...

"You tell me," he whispered, too drugged to try to fight his arousal, "What do you want to give me?"

_"All of me,"_ Bess replied,_ "You can decide what ever you want, what ever part of me you want to change...my body is yours."_

And Felix caught his breath as he briefly looked down and realized she had taken her dress off while he was sleeping. He took a lingering look at her body and then smiled.

"I could do a _lot_ of work on you myself," he told her, "I know enough about cybernetics..."

Confusion clouded her eyes and he pulled her closer and ran his hand down her body, resting it lightly on her hip as he spoke again.

"I'm not like most guys. I've got certain ways of doing things...I don't think Brenda would ever have let me be as dominant as I prefer –"

"Brenda?" she said, "What's your _ex girlfriend_ got to do with it?"

He brushed aside her remark, forgetting he was supposed to be passing himself off as Gadget, as he began to speak as Felix Todd:

"I've never thought about cybernetically enhanced girls before...but when I look at you, I start to wonder if maybe I could enjoy this... I think I could. I'm thinking about taking you back to my lab and doing some _private_ work on you..."

And he gripped her harder.

_"I can think of a few places we can put some living metal,"_ he whispered, "But I'll only be using local anesthesia – I want you _awake_ for it, sweet heart..."

Bess froze as she stared at him.

"No you wouldn't! You cry every time I have a procedure done, you can't stand to think of the pain!"

Felix winked.

_"I'd love to modify you and watch as you feel that hot metal running across your skin..."_

And he moved a little closer and kissed her, then ran his hand over her head, letting his touch linger on the strip of metal that ran down to the back of her neck.

"I would have loved to have done your metal work," he said softly, "I would have done each part of it gradually, so you had to live with all the changes...I would have got a kick out of that... I think I know what you're about – you want more, don't you? I think you like it and you can't get enough of it..."

Bess stared at him. Gadget's words were turning her on, but it was so unlike Gadget to speak this way... He got excited over her cybernetic mods, but often worried about her and said he didn't want her to go _too_ far. Now it seemed almost as if he was a different person... and the way he was talking was exciting her to the point where she felt as if she could lose control.

"I didn't know you had fantasies about doing my mods yourself..."

"Neither did I until now," Felix said honestly, "But I like the idea of you handing your body over to me like that."

Bess was breathless as she spoke again.

"What do you think about what I told you when you were having the cable fixed?"

He felt lost again.

"What did you tell me?"

Her eyes darkened with desire as she took hold of his hand.

"About where I want some more metal...some _very_ intimate work...soft living metal to heighten sensation..."

He couldn't fight against the urge to touch her.

As he pulled her closer and let her guide his hand down her body, she gave a sigh as she felt his caress, and then as his touch turned from a gentle stroke to a sharp pinch, she gave a sharp cry of pain.

"That hurts..."

"Get used to it if you want _that_ kind of work done," he murmured in her ear.

_And what happened next became moments of blurred pleasure as he continued to caress her until she could take no more._

Then as she lay breathless beside him, he slid his hand back up her body, closing his eyes as the drug made him feel weary once more. He didn't doubt that he would have a lot on his conscience when he woke up and came back to his senses, but for now, he had enjoyed what had happened, and Bess still thought he was Gadget..._explanations could wait..._

* * *

"_I wish Gadget was here."_

As Sanford spoke those words, he stood at the entrance to the building that had once been the headquarters of his robotics business, and fear flickered in his eyes.

"I'll come with you."

"_No!"_

Sanford had answered sharply as he looked at John with eyes wide, feeling alarmed at the thought of John and the younger Scolex meeting much earlier than they should.

"That really could mess up the future!" Sanford told him, "Just believe me when I say you have to keep out of this!"

John frowned.

"Exactly how am I involved in this situation with your other self?"

Sanford hesitated.

"It doesn't matter."

"But it does!"

"_I can't tell you!"_

A creeping sensation of cold had just covered his bones again as John looked into Sanford's eyes and caught that haunted look all over again.

"I'm starting to get worried. There's something you're not telling me..."

Sanford avoided his gaze.

"Yes, there is," he admitted, "And for the sake of preserving the time line I'm pretty sure it would be safest not to tell you anything about it! Please trust me. Go back to the car and wait for me, John."

But John Brown just stood there with a puzzled look on his face.

"Why? I want a reason!"

"Go back to the car," Sanford said in a hushed voice, "Please, for the sake of the timeline, for the future...I can't make it any clearer – you _have_ to keep away from the other Scolex."

John slowly nodded.

"I'll wait in the car for you." He replied, and went back to the convertible and got in. As he sat down Brain climbed up and placed soft paws on his shoulder and licked his face.

John turned to the dog.

"Do you know what's going on, boy? Because I'm confused."

And Brain wagged his tail and jumped down again, and John turned his gaze to the entrance of the building as Sanford went inside.

* * *

Gadget had been on his way into the heart of town, but stopped as he reached the road that led to the lab belonging to Brenda's father. The building was in plain sight just a little further down the road and as he looked at it, he recalled how the place would be rebuilt after the death of Artemus and the success of the Gadget project; it would become the world's first cybernetics center...

_He thought of Brenda again._

And then he began to walk towards the lab, thinking of the woman who would soon be transforming John Brown into the cyborg he was destined to become. As he got closer he thought about time and how crazy it was; before, he had assumed it moved in a straight line – forward, into the future with every passing day.

But now he knew he was able to go back...it could do strange things to a man's mind, he was sure of it – being back here felt like he was back in his old life, even though that other life belonged to John Brown, and he had no right to want to share it so desperately when he had already been there and lived it before...

He walked into the building and looked around, getting another blast of nostalgia as he recalled working there as a security guard back in the days before the explosion.

He walked up to the main desk and flashed his ID, stating _Riverton Police,_ and explaining he wanted to have a quick word with Dr Brenda Bradford. Then as he was directed to the lab, he said thank you and walked away with a smile on his face – the woman had only glanced at his badge, she hadn't noticed his ID had been stamped with a date many years from now...

He paused at the open door to the lab and smiled as he watched Brenda working on some notes and then pausing to run a computer simulation.

As she studied the screen he felt such a rush of love for her that it silenced him and all he could do was stand there and watch as she worked on one of the many complicated designs that would lead in a year's time to John Brown becoming the first cyborg.

"That won't work..." she muttered, "Not in the long term..."

And she pulled a pencil from her swept up hair and scratched out some notes and wrote something down, then turned back to the computer.

She still had her back turned, unaware she was being watched.

Gadget tapped on the open door.

She turned around, looking surprised to see a stranger standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" she wondered, looking at the man in the trench coat and hat with interest.

Gadget walked in and closed the door. As he looked back at Brenda, all plans to just say _Hi_ and discreetly enjoy a walk down memory lane were gone.

He took a step closer and stopped, looking at her intently, thinking of a swing seat outside his house where he had long ago held her in his arms. _It was yet to happen. They were yet to fall in love and break up._

It occurred to him that he would love her deeply yet hold her in his arms for such a short space of time before they were over, and the pain he felt at that thought took him by surprise, making him almost forget about the ache in his neck that was spreading to his shoulder because of the cable repair.

Brenda looked intently at him, noticing his blue eyes and the way his face seemed familiar – yet she couldn't figure out why, because she was sure they had never met before. In a strange kind of way, he reminded her of an older version of John Brown, but only vaguely... She cancelled that thought, guessing John was on her mind because she was looking forward to their date at the weekend.

"I said, can I help you?" she repeated.

Gadget drew in a breath and finally found his voice.

"_Hello Brenda,"_ he said warmly, _"I realize this will be a shock. I wasn't planning to tell you anything but seeing you like this, all over again, I can't keep my mouth shut. I just hope it doesn't damage the timeline."_

She stared at him.

"Excuse me? _Timeline,_ what are you –"

"I'm a police Inspector with Riverton PD," he told her,"Not yet, not here in '98. But _very_ soon."

She was still staring at him. He stepped closer and paused to rub his neck.

"I recently had a main cable fixed. You warned me I might get some pain afterwards – I was fine until I stepped into the machine, it wasn't a very easy ride. _I guess I'll have to blame time travel for that._"

"_Time travel?"_ she repeated, "I don't understand...is this a joke?"

He looked at her kindly.

"I'm not here to scare you, Brenda. And it's not a joke, either. I came back to find a friend before he causes unintentional trouble. I have just under three days before the recall system takes me back to my own time. And I _had _to see you again."

He paused, his gaze fixed on her. As she looked into his eyes she got the oddest feeling the two of them had already met, as if there was some kind of tie between them that she ought to understand...

"I don't believe we've met before," she said, "And time travel? I don't understand what this is about..."

"It does get off the ground and it will be a success," he told her, "All the work you're doing with your father, it's all going to turn out the way you dream of. You'll build the first cyborg. Actually you'll save a man's life in the process; he would have died without the conversion. He goes on to become Riverton's greatest crime fighter."

Her eyes grew wider.

"The Gadget Project? How did you know -"

_"Go go Gadget arm,"_ he said, and Brenda's jaw dropped as he extended his hand from his wrist and the cable slid out, gleaming silver beneath the laboratory lights.

He snapped it back into place and held out his hand.

"Watch this – _go go gadget screw driver, go go gadget penknife, go go gadget cigarette lighter, go go gadget bubble wand_ –"

She gave a gasp as she saw the gadgets pop out from his fingertips.

"Oh my God...it's just like in my father's design..."

Gadget flexed his fingers and the gadgets snapped out of sight, leaving behind some floating bubbles from the bubble wand.

He smiled proudly.

"I wasn't always this good at controlling them. I used to have terrible glitches. But that was more than fifteen years ago, I'm very much in control of the gadgets now."

"_You_ are a result of the Gadget Project?"

Gadget's eyes filled with warmth as he looked at her.

"I am _the_ result of the Gadget project," he replied, "Riverton's first cyborg crime fighter. My name's Inspector Gadget."

Brenda blinked and then drew in a couple of breaths as she stared at him feeling as if she had just jumped ahead in time to see the finished result of many years work.

"_You're incredible!"_ she exclaimed.

Gadget laughed softly as it occurred to him that she would have been saying that when he held her in his arms around twelve months from now - _if only he had possessed the confidence in his cyborg body that had not come to him until later years..._

"I've had a few upgrades since the first work was done."

"I wish the scanner was working, then I could see it all - we're currently in the process of building a scanner capable of seeing inside a cyborg body, but its not completed yet."

"Is that what you're working on now?" he wondered.

"No," Brenda said, turning the computer screen around and bringing up a page of complicated formulas, "I have to work on a problem with the number of chemicals in the cybernetic fluid that's needed to keep human tissue and machine working in harmony. So far we've come up with a cocktail of seven chemicals that will definitely work – but we have to find a safer alternative, I'm working on a composition of five that's a lot safer, but if we get a test subject within the next year we have to go ahead or we lose funding - and that means the seven formula has to be used because it will take a long time to get the alternative fixed up."

Gadget thought back.

"I remember three years after I got my cyborg body I had to have some essential fluids changed around... that was around the time cybernetic fluid was made completely non toxic and they changed my fluid composition. But I was okay with it the first formula... I don't think it did me any damage."

"This is really important; Can you remember what the five chemical formula is?"

She sounded desperate.

"No," Gadget replied, "I don't remember. I don't think I asked, I just treated it like another upgrade."

She gave a sigh of despair.

"I have to keep working on it."

"You could always take a blood sample from me."

She shook her head.

"It won't show up now – it was too long ago, all the active sources would have blended together and been taken over by the dominant component – we already have that in the first formula, and it wouldn't show up as any different."

Gadget took another step closer and looked into her eyes.

"Brenda," he said kindly, "Don't worry about it. I get on fine with the first formula and just as well with the second."

But her eyes were still filled with concern.

"You don't understand – even three years with the first formula is too long, it's not now, it's later on, fifteen, twenty years down the line...the toxins will stay inside your human body and they could cause a lot of damage."

Gadget's smile faded.

"Damage?"

"How long have you been a cyborg?" she asked him.

"More than fifteen years," he said quietly.

"And you had the first formula in your bloodstream for three years?"

"That's right, but I feel absolutely fine!"

"For now," Brenda replied, "There's still a risk. The toxins from the first formula will never leave your body. It may or may not be a time bomb; I can't make a guarantee on that."

"I was never told this," Gadget replied, "Why was I never told?"

"I'm guessing because you have regular monitoring and maintenance and everything's okay so far, perhaps you'll stay okay, I hope you do..."

Gadget put his hands on her shoulders as he spoke again.

"Brenda, I'm fine. Just go on with your research and don't change anything."

"But based on what you've told me, you lived with the seven chemical blend for three years."

"And I was fine with it," he promised her, "After that you found the non toxic alternative and I've had that ever since."

"But I don't want you to live with those toxins in your body for three years, they're carcinogenic."

Gadget paused. Then he shook his head.

"You won't find the safer alternative until three years after I get the cyborg body. That's the way it turns out. And I'm still here, Brenda."

She looked back at him and felt a rush of fondness for him. It was happening again – she was feeling as if they had known each other for years...

"So you didn't just come back through time to say Hi to me?"

"No, I have to find my friend, he came back without giving a lot of thought to his actions. He's got the best intentions but he could cause some major changes to the timeline if I don't find him."

"Can I help?" she wondered.

"No," he said, "It's definitely best if you stay out of it. This is police business."

The thought had just occurred to him that he didn't want to say goodbye. It was crazy because this wasn't a second chance at living his life again – this was the past, and that past belonged to John Brown...

"I might stop by and see you again, I'd stay longer but I have to go."

And he gave her a hug that he intended to keep brief, but he held on and so did she.

As he held her Gadget thought of home and Bess, yet his heart was still aching as sure as he knew his arms would ache the minute Brenda stepped out of them.

Then as he let go of her he paused to rub at his neck, feeling another ache creeping through the area surrounding the recently repaired cable.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I had the cable repaired very recently – it's a long story – but you warned me to expect some headaches or some spinal pain... it didn't happen right away."

Brenda thought about the planned design for the first ever cyborg and she understood completely.

"You're lucky to have a fix for a main cable!" she exclaimed, "I guess we can do anything a few years from now..."

"Have you got any pain relief?" he asked her.

"Aspirin?" she suggested, and Gadget laughed.

"I was thinking more like a mild cybernetic pain killer. Have you got any cybercodroxine?"

"We're just about starting to formulate it in the lab upstairs," she told him, "It's going to be the first cybernetic medication but it's nowhere near developed yet."

That reply came as no surprise; it would be another year before the Gadget Project would be ready to test on a live subject...

"It doesn't matter, I can live with it."

Brenda smiled as she thought of a way to solve the problem.

"You're getting pain because the cable was moved...am I right?"

"Well yes, but you don't have anything I can take for it –"

"So you're experiencing muscle pain because of the tension caused by the cable being shifted. I can fix that without drugs – take your shirt off, I'll give you a quick massage."

_"A what?"_ Gadget exclaimed, feeling partly guilty and partly excited at the thought of being back in the past and having the chance to enjoy such an intimate moment with his former lover.

"It won't take five minutes," she added.

Gadget knew he wasn't about to turn down the chance to recall her touch.

"I'd better lock the door," he told her, walking over to it and sliding the bolt across.

"Why?" Brenda wondered.

Gadget took off his hat and trench coat and left them on a chair as he began to unbutton his shirt.

"Because of this," he said, as he stripped off his shirt and indicated to the center of his muscular chest, "I wouldn't want anyone seeing the future of cybernetics – not _this_ far advanced."

Brenda's eyes grew wider as she saw the panel of microchips set into his body.

"You certainly have had an upgrade!" she said in surprise.

And then as he got on the lab table, he laid back against the cold metal surface and laughed.

"You'll have to get some padding for this thing – it's freezing!"

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she replied.

Then Gadget turned over and as her hands gently glided up his back, easing pain from his shoulder, he gave a sigh and closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment to relax and forget his worries as found a moments peace, recalling the touch of the woman he had loved and lost as it suddenly dawned on him that he was actually fortunate to have a chance to relive the past, because in a moment like this, he could recall every moment they had shared, and as he recalled it, he began to wonder where things had gone wrong, because there had been a time when he had expected the love he shared with Brenda to last a lifetime...

He knew he was questioning the choices of his own heart. But Bess seemed so far away, as did everything he associated with the future.

"Is it feeling better yet?" she asked as she gently massaged the back of his neck.

Gadget gave another sigh and smiled.

"It's perfect," he murmured, feeling like a thief to have stolen this moment that belonged back in history with the door on it now firmly closed.

He pushed aside all thoughts of the future and his life there, and even the reason he had returned to the past – all that mattered at that moment was the chance to relive his lost love's touch.

As he cherished the sensation of her fingertips on his skin he wished he could keep the moment forever, because deep in his heart he had always loved Brenda, he had _never_ stopped loving her...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As Gadget felt the pain melt away deep inside a tangle of muscle and cables, he gave a sigh.

"Feeling better?" Brenda asked.

"Much, thank you." Gadget replied, feeling her loss in a way that made his heart ache as she took her hands off his shoulders.

He turned over and sat up, cautiously turning his head left and right. The ache caused by the cable being shifted had gone.

Gadget got up and grabbed his shirt.

As he put it on Brenda said his name.

He looked up at her, his shirt was on but still open and she fixed her gaze on the row of chips that ran down his chest.

"I just wanted a closer look – I can't believe we get so far with this technology..."

And she reached out, placing her hand on his chest and sliding it down the illuminated chips.

Her touch meant more to him than he cared to show, and as their eyes met again he wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her time didn't matter, only the love he felt in his heart spoke a universal truth that nothing could change – but instead he listened as she spoke again.

"I'm so glad to know everything works out so well for you, not just for the project, but for you...I think your body is amazing."

Gadget smiled and began to button up his shirt.

"Well, you designed me."

As his shirt closed she smiled too and her face flushed a little.

"_I guess I designed the perfect man."_

Now it was Gadget's turn to blush. He turned away briefly and put on his hat and then his trench coat.

"I'm far from perfect, I just have a few gadgets that other guys don't have – that's all that sets me apart."

"I hope I see you again," she said.

"I'll try and stop by before I leave," he promised her, "And thanks again for fixing my neck."

Then he unbolted the door and walked out of the lab leaving Brenda alone once more. She watched as the man in the trench coat walked away, feeling sure she would never meet another man in her life who held her fascination quite like Inspector Gadget...

* * *

Far off in the future, Felix Todd woke up with a raging thirst and the start of a headache.

He blinked to clear misty vision and then as he tried to move an ache in his backside served as a sharp reminder of what had happened.

Then he turned to Bess, who was still beside him.

She smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at him lovingly.

"_That was wild, Gadget, I never knew you could talk quite like that...all I needed was one touch from you and I was over the edge..."_

His eyes grew wider as it all came back to him with clarity:

_Talking dirty to Bess, Gadget's cybernetically modified girlfriend, pretending to be Gadget as he let his kinky side out to play and talked of all the things he wanted to do to her to enhance her cybernetic design... _

_It wasn't as if they had made love._

_More like he had touched her and said what she wanted to hear until she lost all control. _

_But it wouldn't have happened if she hadn't shot him full of powerful cybernetic pain relief, believing he was Gadget._

_Felix knew he was far from perfect but he usually drew the line at fooling around with another man's girlfriend...but it had happened now..._

"Let's get out of here and get you to bed, so you can have some proper rest," Bess said, and she slid her hand inside his bathrobe.

And then she froze, her hand pressed flat against the center of his chest, where she should have laid her hand on a row of microchips – instead, all she could feel was a very human, unmodified body...

Her eyes grew wider.

"_What the..."_

"I can explain!" he said, pushing her hand away and sitting up, "It was _your_ fault anyway, you shot me full of a cybernetic drug – thank God it was only cybercodroxine, if it was anything stronger I'd be in a coma by now!"

And he got up, stepping away from the couch.

Bess got up too; she grabbed her dress and threw it on quickly as anger blazed in her eyes.

"_You bastard!"_ she said in a low voice, _"Pretending to be Gadget? Wait till I tell him about this, he'll have your ass thrown in jail, you pervert!"_

Felix glared back at her.

"Oh no, I'm _not_ taking the blame for this, you're the one who shot me with a drug that made me helpless and compliant! It's not _my_ fault you were all over me getting me to play your fantasy games, sure I went along with it, I said I'd be your Dr Frankenstein and do all those kinky mods you wanted, you got me going, what did you expect me to do when I was under the influence like that? Maybe if you'd listened when I said I wanted to be left alone, I wouldn't have been dosed up on a cybernetic drug that's _illegal_ for non modified human usage - _and you wouldn't have had a close encounter with my hand!_"

Her jaw dropped.

"What?" he asked her, "Are you waiting for an apology? Because you won't get one! You're a doctor, you know the effect of cybercodroxine on non modified people!"

"But I thought you was Gadget!"

Then Bess caught her breath as she stared at him.

"Where _is_ Gadget?" she demanded.

Felix gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'll explain if you shut up and stop yelling! He wanted to go back and find Scolex, he was worried about his best friend and the effect he might have on the time line. As a scientist, I have to agree with your boyfriend, I think he did the right thing! So he asked me to pretend to be him while he was away, he didn't want anyone to know because Quimby ordered him not to go."

Hurt reflected in her eyes.

"Even me? He didn't want _me_ to know?"

"He didn't want you to worry. He said there would be no problem with me pretending to be him for a couple of days because he's just had the cable fixed, I was supposed to go home and rest, lay low for a while until he came back. That _was_ the plan. I hope you're not going to wreck it for him by giving away his secret, because he's risking everything to try and find Sanford and protect the timeline!"

Bess said nothing as she stood there feeling shaken as she thought of what Gadget had done.

_"He used the time machine?"_

"Are you hard of hearing, honey? I told you that already!"

She took in a breath and looked back at Felix.

"You are such a pig!" she exclaimed, "I cant believe you just went along with me like that! You gave me an orga –"

"I gave you what you wanted because you were all over me and I was on cybernetic meds! I _told_ you not to inject me and you didn't listen!"

Then he shrugged.

"It's no big deal, it's not as if we actually had sex, because we didn't, so get off the guilt trip and focus on a more important subject – I have to pretend to be Gadget until he gets back. I can do it without your help, but with your help it would be much easier. So are you with me on this or are you going to wreck Gadget's plans by turning me in?"

Bess was speechless for a moment as she looked at the man with Gadget's face – who was actually _nothing_ like Gadget at all in any other way...

"Your attitude is deplorable!"

"I'm just trying to help Gadget."

"_By putting your hands all over me?"_

Anger flashed in his eyes.

"Not again!" he snapped, "I don't believe this... _you_ doped me up and then you were all over me – and you're _blaming_ me?"

Bess knew a lot of her own guilt rested in the fact that she had enjoyed their encounter, and couldn't deny it, even though she was worried about Gadget and felt bad about what happened, it _had_ been an exciting experience...

"I'm well aware that you wouldn't have had control over your actions while you were on the cybercodroxine. I would never have knowingly injected a non modified person with a cybernetic drug."

"I accept that."

"Is that as close as I'll get to an apology?" she demanded.

_"Yes,"_ he replied, and anger flashed in her eyes again.

"We need to forget what happened between us," Felix added, "There's more important things to think about – like making sure no one finds out Gadget used the machine without permission. I don't think Quimby would let that go even for the great Inspector."

"You're right," she replied, "He's never gone against an order in his life."

"But he's doing it for the right reasons," he reminded her, "I didn't want to send him back and I certainly didn't want to spend the next three days passing myself off as him – but I get why he's doing it. I understand the potential damage to the timeline, he's doing all he can to try to prevent it from happening. I've got a great deal of admiration for him – I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be doing his job right now, there's a lot of risk involved."

Bess felt her anger begin to simmer down as she thought about the circumstances that had led to their encounter.

_"Okay, I'll do this for Gadget. I'll go along with it."_

"Thank you," he replied, "Now I'd like to go and get some proper rest because I have a splitting headache."

"Third door on the left," she told him, indicating to the hallway beyond, "There's a spare room."

As Felix left the room, Bess thought about what had happened between them and she gave a heavy sigh, wishing she could brush off her guilt with the kind of ease Felix seemed to have when it came to forgetting the whole incident.

"_I'm sorry Gadget,"_ she said quietly, as she thought of her lover so far off in the distant past and ached to hold him in her arms.

* * *

Sanford found his way easily around the building as he entered the business premises belonging to his younger self, and memories came flooding back.

But that flood of memories filled him with nothing but regret for his past choices in life; he felt as if he wanted to grab hold of his other self and shake him while he told him what a fool he was, how many mistakes he was yet to make...

Anger was building as sure as he was ascending floors and heading for the top as he stood in silence in the elevator as thoughts of the past swirled around like a dark storm inside his head.

When the doors opened he walked away from the elevator and headed towards the office of the younger Scolex. Office staff were busy at work and no one thought anything unusual about the well dressed man in the dark suit who leaned on a cane as he walked towards the head office with an intent look in his eyes. They probably assumed he was a business colleague. Perhaps some who passed him even noticed an older resemblance to Scolex and assumed he was a relative.

_But whatever others had thought, no one stopped or challenged him._

This was a year before he would turn to crime. Here and now, he was making his plans; this was back at the start where so much could be altered...

He kept hold of that hope as he approached the door that led to the vast main office.

"Can I help you, sir?" asked his secretary as she rose from her seat.

"I'm here to see Sanford Scolex." He replied, noticing she blinked and then stared, clearly spotting a striking resemblance between the two men.

"Who should I say is calling for him?"

Sanford thought for a moment.

"His older brother. _And tell him he had better see me or things will get rather unpleasant pretty soon – it's not a warning, I'm here to help_."

The secretary seemed confused by all he had just said, but went through to the office to deliver the message.

Moments later she returned.

"You can go in and see him," she replied, and sat down again, watching with curiosity as the older man who resembled the younger Scolex went into the office and shut the door behind him.

* * *

As Sanford walked into the room, he paused midway between the door and the desk across the other end of the dark marble floor, feeling mild shock at the sight of his younger self, tall and lean and wearing a dark suit not unlike his own while he sat in a comfortable leather chair and stroked his white cat.

The other Scolex watched him thoughtfully for a moment, and then spoke up:  
"You say you're my brother? I don't have a brother. But I _am_ intrigued. Is this some sort of attempt at making a threat because I'm soon to become the worlds leading Cybernetics Company?"

Sanford took a step closer. He hadn't changed that much over the years; he had become a little heavier and his dark hair now mingled with streaks of grey, but as he stepped closer the younger Scolex looked startled as he noticed the resemblance for the first time.

"Who _are_ you?"

Sanford leaned on his cane and took in a slow breath, fixing him with a dark gaze as he prepared to speak the words that would shock his other self.

"_I'm you."_

"Me?" he exclaimed, "There's only one me, what kind of a joke is this?"

And he laughed briefly, almost reaching hysteria as he looked back at him, and then his expression changed in a split second as his laughter stopped.

"Seriously, I _don't_ have time for childish games. The truth - or I'll have you thrown out."

And now his eyes matched the same kind of darkness that burned in the eyes of his visitor.

Sanford leaned on his cane as he took three more steps and finally reached his desk. It was not a comfortable experience to be so close to his younger self as he recalled all the pain and suffering he would soon be causing to John Brown.

"I see my own guilt personified when I look at you," he said in a low voice.

And those words sent a shiver down the spine of the younger man, who set his cat down on the floor and the animal ran off towards an open door that led through to another room.

"Guilt?"

_"One year from now you commit murder."_

Scolex sat behind his desk laughing again, a hysterical laugh that did not cover his nervousness as fear reflected in his eyes.

"Murder? Are you insane?"

"No," Sanford replied, his eyes still dark as he looked at the younger version of himself and his eyes remained dark, "But _you_ are. You're involved in industrial espionage. You already have spies planted at the Bradford Laboratory. You've heard all about the massive progress they've made in cybernetics and you want a piece of the action. You _literally _want to take that piece – a robotic foot that's going to be the key to future of cyborg technology!"

The color drained from his face as he looked across the desk at the older man who bore a striking resemblance to the way he imagined he would look maybe fifteen, twenty years from now...

"How did you know about that?" he fumed.

"Because I'm you. Let me tell you what happens – you break into the lab, you steal the foot. Artemus Bradford confronts you and you shoot him dead. Then a security guard from the lab tries to stop you escaping. You smash up his car and he's trapped in the wreckage and the car's leaking gasoline. You throw in a lit cigar and cause an explosion that destroys most of his body. But he gets rebuilt with cybernetic technology. He goes on to become this town's greatest detective – Inspector Gadget - and _you_ go on to become a wanted criminal who spends many years behind bars!"

The younger Scolex ran his fingers through his dark hair and looked at him nervously.

"That's a very..._interesting _prediction. But I fail to see how I could make such a mess of my life – _I have plans_."

The voice, the look in his eyes, the attitude... Sanford gripped his cane harder as his own eyes darkened further and he resisted the urge to lunge over the desk and throttle the man he used to be.

"Yes, _your_ plans – all doomed to failure! And one day, when you've had enough of incarceration and the hatred of the world for becoming Claw –"

"Claw?" Scolex repeated, looking confused, "I don't understand..."

"You lose your hand on the night of the explosion and have it replaced with a robotic pincer. You call yourself Claw and embark upon a _not_ very successful career as a master criminal. I want you to remember your future will one day lead to a lifetime of regret when you look at Gadget remember all you've done! Some day he becomes your best friend!"

Scolex stared at the older version of himself and shivered, seeing more than a passing resemblance, hearing his own voice in the voice of the man who sat before him and looked at him with such anger burning in his eyes.

"Prove it. Tell me how you got here...if you're me, it should be simple."

"There was a time machine. I stole it –"

Scolex threw his head back and laughed.

"That's _true_ Scolex behavior, you _stole_ it!"

Sanford shook his head.

"I borrowed the use of it to come back to this year, before you start making mistakes! I know how you felt when Agnes died and how your heart was ripped to pieces when her parents said your boy was dead –"

"What?" he fumed, standing up sharply as he glared at his older self, "You have no right to talk about my son!"

"I have_ every_ right! It's your grief that changed you, and you're wrong, by the way!"

Scolex glared at him.

"I'll have you thrown out of this building –"

As he reached for the intercom, Sanford slammed his cane across the wrist of the younger Scolex, who cried out in pain.

Then suddenly Sanford moved like a blur, lunging at him, grabbing him by the throat and dragging him up close to eyes that blazed with fury.

"I had your pincer replaced with a robotic hand. _This one_..."

And Scolex gasped as he heard the vague sound of gears shifting as a cold hand tightened about his throat.

"This is what you will do – keep away from the Bradford laboratory! Go and find the Hammerstone family, they adopted your son and named him Riley...yes that's right, your son's not dead! If you put a side all this pursuit of conquering the world you might just be able to get your son back! He's almost four years old...you can do it if you try!"

Scolex stared at him, weakened by emotion as he took in all he had been told.

"_He's alive?"_

Sanford let go of his throat and the other Scolex desperately drew in air.

"Can I at least see how your robotic hand is put together?"

Sanford's eyes burned with anger.

"Did you hear what I said? I don't want to wait almost twenty years to see my son again; I want him back while he's still a child and needs his father! Riley was in a terrible accident as a teenager, suffered extensive burns and had most of his body replaced by robotics. If you find him and get him back and raise him yourself the future will change!"

Scolex was visibly shaken as he walked over to the window and looked down at the busy town below.

"Get out," he said quietly, "I _do_ believe you, I know when I'm looking into my own eyes. I just don't like the way you think you have the right to dictate my future. How selfish of you to try to alter my plans. Now I know I made mistakes, I can carry on with my plans and just take more care –"

"It will _still_ happen!" Sanford yelled, "You have to stop _now_, turn your life around and break the cycle or the timeline goes on the same! You will never know how heavy your guilt can weigh, how much regret you will live with constantly after you and Gadget become friends. You will look back and wish you had taken my advice! Gadget is dying because he had an accident that damaged a main cable. When I left, it seemed like there was no hope for him! I'm almost afraid to go back because I might find he's gone, and I can't live with that!"

"Why is he called Gadget?" Scolex wondered as he turned back to his older self.

"He's the result of the Gadget Project. Riverton's first cyborg cop."

Interest sparked in his eyes.

"_Shame I can't meet him."_

"You're just thinking of your plans for robotic soldiers, of cornering the cybernetics market to use the technology for defense programs! That's _not_ what it's about where I come from, it's about saving lives!"

The younger Scolex went back to his desk and settled back comfortably in his seat and looked intently at this older version of himself, so strangely desperate to right wrongs it seemed as if something had gone wrong somewhere in the future, because he never wanted end up like that – he knew which side he was on, his own, with his plans to dominate the future of cybernetics...

"You said my son was alive. Can you prove it?"

"If you look up Riley Hammerstone you'll find out I'm telling the truth! You _can_ get him back, just drop your plans, leave the business alone, let others take care of the future of cybernetics because you won't get there, but those who do, use the technology wisely. Don't waste your life, find Riley."

Something glittered in his eyes and as Sanford looked at his younger self, he wondered if he had got through to him at last, or if he was just planning to be devious. He wanted to think he was wiling to listen, and had to take that chance...

"Please trust me. Would I really come back through time to find you just to screw up my _own_ life? I'm here to wipe out my past mistakes. You think nothing of your plans now, but later on, as you get older, as you change, you'll live with so much regret if you don't listen to me!"

Scolex fell silent as his heart ached as his thoughts turned to his young son.

"Prove you're telling me the truth. I could feel that metal beneath your very realistic artificial skin – take it off, let me see the hand."

Sanford's guard was up at once.

"And give you access to future technology? No, I won't let that happen. You're too dangerous. You'll have to kill me to see the hand – and you wouldn't want to kill yourself, would you? No one wants to know how and when they're going to die..."

His words sent a chill down the spine of his younger self as Scolex paled visibly.

"There wouldn't be any harm in showing me, we _are_ the same person..."

"No we're not," Sanford replied, "I grew older and wiser and did everything I could to put right my mistakes – _you_ haven't even begun to _make_ those mistakes yet!"

His eyes darkened as he got up from his desk and walked around it again.

"I have no intention of becoming you," he said in a low voice as he leaned in close to Sanford's face, "I'm a young man with power and wealth and I can do what I like! I _don't_ care about your regrets – I have a life to live!"

"_But it all goes wrong."_

"No, it won't," he replied, "And as for this Inspector Gadget...if he wants to try and stop me, let him try – he won't win."

Sanford gave a sigh of despair.

"But he will! Give up your plans, they come to nothing, believe what I'm telling you because it's the truth!"

"I'm sure this _Gadget_ is easy to dispose of," Scolex added, and in that moment Sanford saw the truth of the matter: his younger self would not change his mind, because he was determined to go ahead with his plans.

It made him wonder again if the past really could be changed; perhaps some things were destined, and nothing could alter the course of history...

"_You wouldn't feel that way if you found Riley."_

Scolex stepped back, turning his face away at the mention of his son's name yet again.

"Prove to me my son is alive!"

Sanford reached into his pocket and drew out a folded piece of paper.

"It's the address of the Hammerstones. Have it checked out. Get a copy of Riley's birth certificate. Then you'll know the truth."

Scolex took the paper and glanced at it, then put it in his pocket.

"I'll do that. But it doesn't solve my other problem – what to do about you..."

And Sanford looked at his younger self as he wondered, for a brief moment, if his other self was actually crazy enough to kill him to gain access to his technology...

"I do want to see the hand," Scolex added, "but as you don't want to show me, I'll have to accept it's not going to happen. And I will investigate your claims about Riley."

And then he paused as he considered something else, and then spoke up again:

"You say you used this time machine without permission? Does that mean you can't go back?"

"I believe the machine is capable of recall but I can't be certain. I left my wife, my baby son and my dearest friend to come back here and try and put my life in order."

Scolex stared at him.

"Your wife and son?"

"I have a wife and a young son. Riley's not your only child. You have another much later on, when you become me, when you turn your back on crime."

His words had stunned him into silence and Sanford smiled.

"It's not all bad, being one of the good guys," he added, and then he got up, leaning on his cane.

"What happened?" Scolex asked him, "Why do you need the cane? Do I have an accident?"

"No," Sanford replied, "You get an infection after having some tissue and nerve endings removed."

"Why would I need to do that?" he asked nervously.

"Because Gadget needed a transplant and I - or should I say _we_ - are his donor."

Scolex laughed as he shook his head.

"I wouldn't risk my life and wind up half crippled to help out an enemy!"

"You will," he replied, "Because it was our weapon that caused him damage. It seemed only right to help him in the way I did, it was the least I could do."

Scolex shook his head.

"I will _never_ be like you!" he said sharply, "You keep your regrets and let your heart bleed for others – mine was broken long ago, around the time I decided to look out only for myself, no matter what happens in life."

"You'll change your mind," Sanford replied and he turned for the door, "I just hope you don't leave it too late."

Scolex said nothing in reply as his older self walked away.

Then he sat in silence for a moment before pressing the intercom button and speaking to his secretary.

"_That man who just left the office,"_ he said, _"Have him followed..."_

* * *

John Brown had decided Sanford had been too long in the Scolex building.

He was discreetly armed with his gun out of sight beneath his jacket, the same gun he used in his work as a security guard, and as the time had passed by he had thought more and more about going into the building just to check that Sanford was okay... he saw no harm in doing that, if he was careful. Then he wondered exactly what he had to be careful of, because Sanford had disclosed very little about his involvement in this situation, or why it was so important that he keep right away from the other Scolex...

John's mind was made up.

He was seconds away from opening the door of his convertible, and then he froze:

A man was standing beside the car, in a trench coat and hat and with a look in his eyes that seemed to hit him in such a way that he felt he ought to know this man, but they had never met before...

"John Brown?" he said, keeping his gaze fixed on him.

He nodded.

The man drew out a police ID and John's eyes grew wider as he saw the date it was issued was many years into the future.

"_Inspector Gadget?"_

And Gadget smiled.

"I've come a long way. And since you seemed to know of me, I'm hoping it's because you've seen a friend of mine."

John took in a deep breath, getting the oddest feeling again, as if ... he couldn't describe it, other than making him feel the way his Grandmother used to feel when something gave a sharp or haunting reminder of the past, and her phrase came to mind as he looked at Gadget :

_He felt as if someone had just walked over his grave..._

"Sanford? He went into the Scolex building..."

"When?"

"Forty minutes ago."

A flicker of alarm shadowed Gadget's blue eyes, and then as he heard his name being called, he turned and breathed a relieved sigh to see Sanford leaving the Scolex building.

"What the devil are you doing here?" Sanford exclaimed as he hurried across the street to join him as fast as his cane would allow.

Gadget said nothing and John watched from the car as the two men briefly embraced and then let go again.

"You shouldn't be here!" Sanford said anxiously, "Your cable damage –"

"Is fixed," Gadget told him.

Sanford blinked.

_"What?"_

"It's fixed. Dr Todd called some colleagues who had a solution intended to bond minor damage to space vessels. He had some sent over and Brenda tried it on the cable and it seems to have done the job."

And he looked at Sanford, waiting for his reaction.

"I thought I was going to lose you..."

Gadget gave a sigh.

"If only you'd waited around to find out, we wouldn't both be stuck here for just over two days. The recall circuit changed, literally overnight – Dr Todd had to fix it. I'm guessing it's something to do with alterations to the timeline. Been busy, have you Sanford?"

And Sanford avoided his gaze for a moment.

"I was just trying to help..."

"By using the machine? No one knew for certain if it was safe."

"And you took the same risk," Sanford reminded him.

"Without anyone knowing" Gadget told him, "Quimby ordered me not to go. So I changed places with Dr Todd."

Sanford stared at him.

"_You did what?"_

"There shouldn't be a problem," Gadget replied, "After having the cable fixed everyone assumes I've gone home to rest."

"Everyone? Even Bess?"

"I told Felix to pretend he wasn't feeling too good so he could get some time alone..."

Then Gadget's eyes grew wider as he recalled how he often claimed _not be feeling too good_ as a cue for some mildly kinky fun to start with Bess...

"At least, I _hope_ he gets that time alone," he added, and then pushed those thoughts aside, because he was too far away in the distant past to do anything about a possible misunderstanding. Gadget turned his attention back to Sanford.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I've come to no harm, Gadget."

"But have you _caused_ any?"

Sanford's eyes widened on hearing that suggestion.

"I came back here to right wrongs, to change the past – to stop Jax and to change my _own_ past!"

Gadget shook his head.

"Please don't tell me you've spoken with the other Scolex..."

_"I didn't do any harm,"_ Sanford replied, _"I told him not to go ahead with his plans, because he'll live to regret them. I told him one day you and I will be close friends, I told him how I came back here to stop him committing murder and going to jail, I told him Riley's still alive – that's all..."_

"That's all?" Gadget exclaimed, "Are you crazy, Sanford? You can't go back into the past and put all this information about! You don't know what the other Scolex might decide to do with it!"

"I know if I'd been aware long ago that my son was still alive, my life would have changed. I would have done anything to get my boy back!"

"You say that now," Gadget reminded him, "You're older and wiser."

And he indicated to the top of tall, dark building that overshadowed them, "But _he's _not. He's yet to make mistakes. Why would he listen to anyone, least of all an older version of himself who's had a life time of regret? He doesn't _want_ to listen_. He won't care_."

Tears filled Sanford's eyes.

"_But I do!"_

Gadget put his hand on his shoulder as he looked into the eyes of his closest friend.

"I know you do, but we have to be careful, do nothing and wait for that recall signal. It ends here, no more trying to change the past!"

As he took his hand off his shoulder, Sanford was still tearful.

"I can't," he said to Gadget, "I can't go back and change nothing. Are you telling me you'd rather keep your past the way it is, explosion, loss of limbs and half your body and wake up a cyborg? _You have a choice now!_"

And Gadget looked at John Brown, who was sitting in the drivers seat of his white convertible watching the conversation unfold. He wondered for a brief moment what his life would have been like if the explosion had never happened, and then he felt an ache inside like opening up an old wound as he felt a longing for the life that had been snatched away from him.

Gadget took in a sharp breath as he turned back to Sanford.

"No." he said firmly, "I was the prototype. It happened, I accepted it a long time ago. Maybe you should accept your past too – we all have things we regret and we _live_ with them, we _don't_ go back and change them!"

Then a flicker of alarm filled his eyes as he lowered his voice.

"You haven't told John about his own future, have you? Please tell me you haven't!"

Sanford shook his head.

"I haven't said a word."

"Keep it that way!" Gadget replied, and he got into the back of the car and looked to Sanford.

"Get in, we're leaving. I want to be as far away from the other Scolex as possible!"

Sanford got in next to John and fell silent.

"Let's go back to my place," John suggested.

"Good idea," Gadget told him, "We can stay there until the recall circuit kicks in and sends us back home."

And John started up the engine and pulled out of the parking space.

As they drove away, no more words were said as Sanford remained silent lost in his thoughts as he wondered how he could prove to his younger self that he had to change the course of his destiny. Then he wondered how he could achieve anything of the sort without Gadget finding out.

The white convertible drove on towards the highway, heading back towards the little house John called home.

And at a distance, another car took the same route, but none of the occupants of the white convertible were aware they were being followed...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Jax Wilberforce was far from Riverton. _

As he sat in the office space of his newly rented accommodation, he looked through paperwork and thought about his new business premises – the money from the factory fire had taken care of everything...

Then Jax stopped, putting the paperwork down and thinking deeply about his encounter with the time traveller Sanford Scolex.

And then he recalled his warnings and wondered if the future was something that he could or should do anything to change.

He still hadn't made up his mind about the explosives on the bridge; he had no way of knowing if Sanford had hidden motives, for all he knew, in the future, the two of them could turn out to be deadly enemies – _perhaps Sanford was trying to avoid an attempt on his own life, the tale of the bowling ball costing him his hand sounded highly unlikely..._

As he recalled the murderous rage in his eyes, he reached up and felt the bruising still fresh about his throat.

Perhaps _Sanford_ was the one who he had been trying to murder, maybe with justification...

The future was far away and unknown, and Jax looked down again at the plans for his new business and decided for now, he would make no decision on the explosives, because until the time came, he had no way of knowing who was the true enemy. He briefly thought about Sanford's tale of his friend named Gadget who was so seriously damaged when the bridge collapsed.

Perhaps it _was_ true – _or perhaps not_...

Jax decided to make no decision on the future, because it was far away and meeting the time traveler who had almost strangled him had been a shock.

It would take time to get used to the idea that he may have been told the truth about his own destiny...

Jax remained undecided.

_And as long as he remained undecided, the future outcome remained unchanged..._

* * *

Gadget was sitting on the sofa in the front room.

John was on the armchair by the fireplace, his favorite seat, as Gadget recalled.

It struck him as strange to think he was a visitor in his own home while his younger self knew nothing of the truth...

"We need to make some sort of plan." John said after pausing for thought, "I don't think your friend Sanford will leave things as they are, he's too decided, on what he wants to do."

"Keep your voice down, "Gadget told him, "I know he went upstairs to rest but that doesn't mean he _is_ resting."

And John recalled the way Sanford had gone straight upstairs on arriving back at the house, announcing he was weary of being stuck in the past...

"But it's safer to do nothing," Gadget replied, "Who knows what we could change if we do or say too much?"

"Is there nothing positive we could do? What about his son, he said the other Scolex would want to find him."

Gadget thought back to the day Sanford had found out the truth about Riley.

"Perhaps it would make a difference to him, I'd like to think so."

"Maybe I could track down Riley. At least that way he gets something positive before you leave."

"Okay," Gadget replied, "I see no harm in that – you look up his son, but bring the information back to me. I don't want you going near the younger Scolex."

John looked hard at him, recalling how Sanford had said the same.

"Why not, Gadget? Sanford said the same thing to me, _why_ do I have to keep away from Scolex? What's going on?"

Gadget looked into his eyes and saw his human, undamaged self from the days before the explosion looking back at him and desperate for answers.

He felt an ache deep inside for the life he used to have, and for all that John would have to suffer in the future.

_"Please don't ask me that question."_

"That's what Sanford said too! I want answers, Gadget!"

And Gadget drew in a slow breath and closed his eyes and he considered how honesty had always been so important to him. He had always believed in truth and fairness and justice...

_He believed in it so much that he couldn't lie to himself._

His good intentions had all been in place before he made the journey back to the past, but now he was here, it was much more difficult than he had first imagined – he knew the truth had to be told, because truth and fairness was all he had ever believed in and lived his life by, he could not turn away from that now and lie to himself...

Gadget looked across the coffee table at John Brown.

"A year from now, the younger Scolex will break into the Bradford Lab and steal some cybernetic technology to further his own developments in the business. During the robbery he gets chased by a security guard whose car crashes during pursuit. Scolex ignites leaking gasoline from the wreckage and the man in the car is caught in a terrible explosion. He survives, but only because cybernetic medicine is able to save him. He becomes the prototype cyborg_. He becomes me_. He's seventy percent machine and even his face and his voice will change because it has to be rebuilt. He wakes up six months later and he's the world first cyborg cop. _That's a long way to come from a security guard who works at Bradford Laboratories_."

John stared at him.

"Someone I work with becomes you? I know a few guys who work security there –"

And then he fell silent, because Gadget was still looking at him intently.

That creeping sense of cold was washing over his bones again.

"No," he said in a hushed voice, "You... you mean it's going to be _me_ who goes through all that?"

"You become me," Gadget replied, "That's what Sanford's trying to change by coming back here. He wants to show his younger self that he has to turn his life around before it's too late."

John glanced nervously towards the open door and the bottom of the stairs that led up to the spare room where Sanford was resting.

"You're telling me a year from now, Sanford, _your friend Sanford_ causes an explosion that almost _kills_ me?"

"You have to believe me when I say he's not the same man he used to be. When the other Scolex turns to crime he truly embraces evil, he even renames himself Claw. But there is not a trace of Claw in the man I call my friend. I love him like a brother, I _trust_ him! If he sneaks off and tries to contact the other Scolex again, he's only doing it because he wants to stop him, _not_ join him!"

"But how could you have gone through all that because of him and become his friend? How do you forgive something like that?" John asked.

Gadget looked back at his younger self and smiled knowingly.

"Time will tell," he promised him, "You do have that forgiveness in your heart, believe me when I say that. Sanford saves your life many years later, when you need some donor tissue. It's work that needs to be done to repair damage caused by his own weapon, he used it against you and you got sick because of it. And that's when things started to change. There comes a point when everyone has to forgive the past and let go. No one can fight a war forever, John. Things work out for the best; you have to believe me when I say that."

John's face had turned pale as he took in a shaken breath.

"Now I know the truth I hope we can persuade him to turn his life around! I have plans for myself, I want to become a cop, I want to stay in one piece, too – I want to see Penny grow up...and I have a date with Brenda at the weekend!"

Gadget blinked.

"_What?"_

"Sanford told me I dated Brenda in the future, so I thought I may as well bring things forward a year. I mean, what's the harm in it? I never knew she liked me so much until Sanford told me."

"He shouldn't have told you!"

"Well I'm taking her out Saturday; we're both looking forward to it. And now I know what could happen in a year's time with Scolex, I think I'd better make the most of every moment!"

And then he checked his watch, speaking again as he tried to brush aside all he had been told, in a way only one in shock could try to clutch at the precious normality that still surrounded him.

"It's getting late...I'm going to have a coffee and then I have to pick Penny up from school. I think I might take her for a burger, just have some time with my niece...We'll talk more later. And you're right, we need to try to find Riley. It could change Scolex for the better...I hope it does..."

And then he got up and left the room.

* * *

As he sat alone, Gadget breathed a heavy sigh as he wondered if he had just made a huge mistake in telling John the truth.

If there was a disastrous outcome, it would be because he was too damned honest to withhold information from his younger self...

He had thought before he left his own time that a journey to the past would be simple, because he was determined to be careful what he said and did...but now he was back here it was not so easy, and he wished he had not been so hard on Sanford for saying too much.

It was impossible _not_ to speak the truth when confronted by the past like this...

And then a message flashed up at the back of his left eye:

_Memory file corrupt?_

Gadget concentrated on the message, wondering why the electronic section of his brain where copies of his memory were stored had been hit by a glitch.

"Access file and run," Gadget said quietly, still focusing on his internal memory.

An inner screen flashed up in his mind _- _this was a memory from 1998, but not one that he recalled from his own timeline:

_He was still John Brown. It was a year before the explosion, he was still human and Brenda Bradford was in his arms._

_They kissed on the porch, then he pushed open the door and they went inside the house._

_They were still kissing as he led her up the stairs._

"_I could fall in love with you," Brenda whispered in his ear._

"_Go ahead and do it, I've loved you from the day we first met," he replied softly._

"Stop recall," Gadget said loud, and then he thought about what he had just found in his own memory bank:

_A glimpse of an altered timeline..._

"What was _that _about?" he said in a low voice as he silently scanned his internal back up memory, and searched for more corrupt files, but found none.

"End scan," he said aloud, and then he thought about John's plans, his decision to date Brenda a year earlier than before – it would happen now, because he had just recalled it from his own memory bank, a human memory copied over to the electronic one and stored away as a back up. Gadget suddenly wondered what else would change in his memory filing system as the future slowly began to alter too. Time was changing, the course of it, their lives within it – and he felt powerless to stop it from happening, because according to his memory bank, it had already begun...

He tried to think back to his own human recall of those days – but instead of remembering working as a security guard who had a crush on Brenda, the area was now grey and obscured.

He knew there was nothing wrong with his own functions, human or cyborg – it was _time_; something was changing...

* * *

While Gadget was far off in the past, Bess sat at home in the front room and watched the waves roll to shore beyond the window as she wondered if Gadget would know she was thinking of him.

_Was time such a distance to cross when love was involved?_

Then Felix Todd came into the room wearing Gadget's suit and she felt uneasy and guilty all over again.

"You don't have to be him when were alone, there's no one else here!"

"You never know," he replied, "I can't afford to _not_ be him."

And then there was a knock at the door and he shot her a smug look.

"Don't say it!" she warned him, but he did any way.

"_I told you so!"_

Bess got up from the chair.

"I'd better answer it, if it's for Gadget I'll say he's resting."

"No, let me go," he replied, "I'm supposed to be Gadget – let me practice, I need to perfect this act in case Quimby or the Mayor show up."

And then he left the room and went down the hallway.

Bess hurried after him and as he reached the front door she grabbed at his sleeve.

"Be careful what you do or say!"

And then the caller spoke up.

"Hey Gadget, are you home?"

"Oh no!" Felix said, "It's that idiot Taylor Braydon!"

"That _idiot _is a good friend of Gadget's!" she told him, "So be nice to him!"

Felix opened the door.

Taylor stood there on the porch with a big grin on his face.

"Hi."

And he carried on standing there and smiling.

"What do you want?" Felix asked.

He looked back at him and saw Gadget, and as he leaned in and hugged him, Felix was taken by surprise.

Taylor was still hugging him tightly.

He briefly struggled and Bess smiled and looked away, trying her hardest not to laugh aloud.

Finally Taylor let go of him.

"I was so glad to hear you go the cable fixed! I thought I'd come over and see how you're doing."

"Well I'm doing fine, as you can see – now maybe you should go home again so I can get some more rest."

"_Gadget!"_ Bess said to Felix, her voice hinting at a warning not to be so abrupt.

Confusion clouded Taylor's eyes.

"Are you okay? You're not usually so grumpy, even when you're sick. You're always pleased to see me."

"Of course I am," Felix replied, stepping back from the door, "Come in, Taylor."

They went through to the front room. Bess offered to make some coffee and headed for the kitchen, pausing to look back and shoot him a warning glance to remind him to be nice to Gadget's not too bright friend.

Felix sat down on the sofa. Taylor sat next to him.

"So you're okay now?"

"I'm fine, I just need to have a few days off work to make sure everything's settled down."

And he fell silent, and Taylor said nothing for a moment as he looked back at Gadget, smiled and then tried to think of a way to start the conversation again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked after a few minutes, "Because you're not usually so quiet."

"I'm just tired."

"Okay," Taylor said, and then he sat there, still smiling at him.

After a few more moments had passed, Felix shifted uncomfortably as he looked at Taylor, who was _still_ sitting there, smiling...

"So... you just wanted to come over to see how I'm doing?"

"Yeah."

"That was nice of you," he added, smiling back at him.

"Yeah," Taylor said again.

Felix gave a sigh.

Taylor Braydon was hard work. He didn't have the patience to deal with him under the best of circumstances, least of all now...

"I bet you're really worried about Sanford," Taylor said, "I mean, he's your best friend and he's so far away. But at least you know why he used the time machine."

And then he thought of something and laughed.

"I'm sure Chief Quimby isn't missing the two of you fooling around with the virtual rockets!"

And Felix looked back at him blankly; feeling a moment of inner panic..._what was he talking about?_

"I guess so," he replied, "It doesn't take much to upset the Chief."

Taylor was still smiling.

"Do you remember that time Sanford got you into trouble when you slammed right between Mayor Wilson's thighs and _totally _wrecked her lady parts?"

Felix stared at him.

"What?"

"You know, you and the Gadget Mobile rammed into Mayor Wilson and penetrated her all the way through!"

Felix was still staring at him.

"I don't know what you mean...at least, I _hope_ it's not the way it sounds..."

"That time you and Sanford were fooling with the rockets and he chased you off the highway and straight through the Welcome to Riverton sign – with the cut out of the Mayor on it?"

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I get it now! Yes, of course I remember that."

"You guys have had some laughs together," Taylor added, "And I was wondering, while we're on the subject of Sanford..." he paused as he suddenly seemed rather apprehensive, "I was just wondering...well I was just thinking that maybe, only if its okay with you and the Chief...I was thinking if its okay with you, maybe you could speak to the Chief for me."

And then he looked at Felix hopefully, and Felix looked back at him, not having a clue what he was trying to say.

"You lost me a while back there."

"When?" Taylor wondered.

Impatience flashed in his eyes.

"Around the time you opened your mouth and started speaking!" Felix snapped, "What are you trying to say, spit it out, I don't speak _idiot!_"

Taylor stared at him.

"Why are you mad at me?" Now he sounded hurt.

Felix gave a sigh.

"This is difficult. It shouldn't be, because it's a simple conversation – or it would be for anyone but _you_, Taylor. What do you want to ask me to do for you?"

Taylor looked confused.

"Well I just wanted to ask if you could ask Chief Quimby if maybe I could take over Sanford's job until he comes back."

And then he smiled as his eyes lit up.

"I would _love_ to be in control of the biggest, smartest security system in town!"

Felix pictured it in his mind.

"Oh God no!" he said in horror, "You're _way_ too dumb to do that!"

And Taylor's eyes filled with hurt.

"You've never talked to me like this before, _why_ are you being so mean? Have I done something to upset you?"

"No," Felix said quickly, "I guess I'm just feeling sore after getting the cable fixed. You know how I can get if I'm not feeling too good, don't take it to heart. Forget I said it."

Taylor frowned.

"_But you don't."_

"Don't what?"

"You never get grumpy, even when you're hurting! Even when you were sick and needed the transplant, you were _never_ mean to anyone!"

Felix was struggling as he tried to think of an excuse that Taylor would accept.

"I'm just having an off day, my cable repair left me in a lot of pain."

"Brenda wouldn't have let you go home if you was hurting that bad," he replied, "I know Bess can take care of you, but when you're sick you like to stay at the cybernetics center because you know they can fix the problem and help with stuff like chronic pain. You told me that once. So how come you're hurting so much it's making you behave like a different person all of a sudden, if you're well enough to be at home again?"

"I don't know," he said quietly.

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Taylor replied.

"Like what?" Felix asked him.

"_Like why you're pretending to be Inspector Gadget, Dr Todd."_

Felix stared at him.

"How could _you _work that out?"

"Because I know Gadget," Taylor replied, "You look like him, but you're _not_ him. Where is he?"

Felix was too stunned to reply as he stared at Taylor and wondered how such an idiot could be so suddenly smart to see through his disguise.

Bess had just walked into the room and as she heard Taylor speak again and ask where Gadget was, she set the coffee down on the table and then took a seat on the armchair.

"You have to keep quiet about this, Taylor. Gadget asked Felix to change places with him so no one would miss him while he went off on an important mission."

Taylor's eyes lit up excitedly.

"No one knows, not even Chief Quimby? Wow, it must be a _very_ secret mission! Can I go with him?"

And Felix briefly put his head in his hands as he gave a sigh of despair.

Bess ignored him and continued to explain :

"No Taylor," she said kindly, "I'm sure Gadget would appreciate your help but this is a job for a cop, not a civilian. It's very important you don't tell anyone that Gadget's not here, okay?"

Taylor nodded.

"Okay," he said, and then he thought for a moment.

"Oh no, I hope Gadget's not on a secret mission to figure out why you've gone missing, Dr Todd..."

"Me?" said Felix.

"You know, you changed places with him so now you're not here because you're pretending to be Gadget, so if Gadget's gone off to find you, he can't find you - because you're _here_, pretending to be him..."

Felix briefly rubbed his temples as he looked away from Taylor.

_"He's making my head hurt!"_ he said to Bess.

But Bess just smiled kindly at Taylor.

"No, Taylor – Gadget _knows_ Felix changed places with him. The mission is about something else. "

"What?"

"We can't tell you, we don't know because it's secret." Bess replied.

"Even you don't know?" Taylor said in surprise, "That must be a _big_ secret!"

"I guess it is," Bess added.

Taylor got up and glanced back at Felix.

"You can get away with pretending to be Gadget," he told him, "Just keep your mouth shut and you won't go wrong."

And Felix was about to snap at him again but then Taylor smiled.

"Thanks for the advice," he said reluctantly.

"I'll see you out," Bess told him, and Taylor followed her out of the room.

As he sat alone in Gadget's house wearing Gadget's clothes, Felix gave a heavy sigh:

It had just occurred to him that perhaps it wouldn't be so easy to fool those who knew Gadget well – if Taylor Braydon could see through his disguise, so could others unless he was careful...

* * *

Back in 1998, Penny had just got home from school.

She opened the door and went inside and as her Uncle John opened the door to the front room, she walked in first and he followed.

Penny looked at the man in the trench coat and he looked back at her.

John Brown saw Gadget's eyes mist with tears as he looked his niece, recalling the time so long ago when she had been so young and he had been her guardian.

And Penny just smiled.

"Hi," she said brightly, "My Uncle says you're a cop? That must be exciting."

"It is sometimes," Gadget replied, blinking as he fought back tears.

Penny sat down next to him.

"So have you been in Riverton long?"

And Gadget and John exchanged a knowing glance and then John spoke up:

"Not long, Penny. He's a visitor."

"Where are you from?" Penny asked him.

"A long way away," Gadget replied, "I'm here in Riverton to work on a case. I'll only be here a couple of days."

"Penny, I made you some dinner – do you want it now or later?" John asked.

"Later, I want to know all about what it's like to be a cop!" she exclaimed, and she turned back to Gadget with eyes wide as she looked at him excitedly.

"My Uncle wants to be a cop some day, but for now he's working as a security guard. What do you think, do you think he'll make it some day, do you think he'll be a cop just like you?"

And the two men exchanged a glance, and John made an excuse about needing to go and feed Brain.

As he left the room, he heard Gadget say, "I don't know the answer to that question, all I can say to it is _maybe_..."

* * *

Later on, Sanford eventually joined them for dinner but said little as Penny asked Gadget about his work in the police force.

He kept looking across the table at the girl who would one day become the woman he was destined to marry, the one person he would be fortunate enough to find who would love him despite his many faults and be his rock in times of crisis.

She was just a child here in this time; she knew nothing of the future and what might lie ahead. When she talked of her Uncle John becoming a cop she spoke excitedly, filled with optimism for the future.

Seeing such hope in her eyes reminded him of the harsh truth of the situation: One year from now, if Scolex stayed true to his plans, there would be an explosion...

He couldn't imagine what Penny must have gone through on finding out her Uncle had been almost killed in the line of duty. Sanford knew nothing of how Penny had reacted to the news, or learned to cope with the fact that his life had hung in the balance for so long. They had never talked about it, either...

After dinner Sanford announced he was having an early night, and went upstairs to be alone and make some plans. He still wanted to find a way to contact his younger self again, without Gadget's knowledge, because he felt certain it would be wrong to have come all this way to give up and achieve nothing...

* * *

Gadget was still sitting with Penny after dinner.

While John washed the dishes in the kitchen, Gadget felt an ache in his heart as he looked across the table at his young niece.

"You know, Penny – police work can be dangerous. So can being a security guard, it's not as exciting as it sounds. There's risk involved. But I want you to remember that no matter what happens in the future, life will turn out okay in the end. That's important - I want you to remember I said that."

And Penny nodded.

"Okay, I'll remember. Sorry, I've been talking about my Uncle wanting to be a cop and I forgot to ask – Uncle John said you're Inspector Gadget, but what's your first name?"

Warmth shone in his eyes as he wished he could hug his niece, as she was now, this bright-eyed girl with such hopes for the future...

But she didn't know him, not yet – not like this. It would be another year before she understood who her Uncle was destined to become.

"It doesn't matter," he told her "Everyone calls me Gadget."

Penny smiled.

"It kind of suits you."

He smiled too.

"I guess it does," he replied, feeling certain his explanation could go no further – it was too soon for her to see the technology his cyborg body was capable of, here in the days before John had become Gadget.

Then she spoke again.

"Why do people call you Gadget? I mean, is that really your name? It sounds kind of...I'm not sure, like a robot name or something."

And she laughed.

Gadget laughed too.

"It sure does," he agreed.

"Do you have a family?" Penny asked.

Gadget smiled warmly.

"Yes I do, I have a niece. She's a lot older than you, she's grown up now. She married a good friend of mine and they have a son together. I'm very happy for them."

Penny paused, thinking about all she had learned from listening to her Uncle's conversation and then later what Sanford has told her.

"I know Sanford's from the future," she said, "And I think you are too."

"Like I said, I'm just visiting. But you will definitely see me again some day. Maybe quite soon."

"I wish I could help," Penny added, "It sounds so exciting."

Gadget thought about it.

"I know you want to help, you like to get involved. But there's nothing to do now, me and Sanford are going home soon. But it's been nice to come back here."

"Back?"

Gadget caught the questioning look in her eyes and knew at once he had said to much; Penny had always been smart, in some ways, smarter than him – she had more than proved that in his early days as a cyborg cop when she had helped him out so much with difficult cases...

"I've been here before," he told her, "And I'll be here again, in around a year's time. You'll know me when you see me."

"I won't forget you," she promised him, "Who could forget a name like Gadget?"

Then John came back into the room and reminded Penny she had homework to do.

As his niece left the room, Gadget thought of the woman she would become and home seemed so far away it made his heart ache. But then John turned the conversation back to the subject of trying to trace Riley Hammerstone, and for a while, home sickness left him alone.

* * *

It was late at night when Gadget lay back on the bed in the smallest spare room. This room had always been left unoccupied because it was so small, with the third bedroom being the one offered to guests – that third bedroom was spacious and comfortable and he didn't doubt Sanford was sleeping soundly in there.

Gadget settled back against the pillow, taking in a deep breath of warm night air as the breeze came in through the open window and cooled his skin as he lay on the bed with his shirt open and his eyes closed, as he thought about home, far off in the future. He had not expected to visit the past and while there, miss the future so much.

He thought about Bess and her newly modified body and smiled.

Then he gave a sigh as he wished she was there beside him – there wouldn't be a lot of room here in the smallest bedroom on a single bed, but they could both fit, they would get as close as they could and he would run his hands over her while he savored the flesh and metal beneath his touch...

He felt a vague sensation of his sensors beginning to heat up and turned on his side, switching thoughts to nothing but rest because there was no lock on this door, and while he was sure Bess would love to think that while he was away time traveling, he had missed her so much he couldn't keep his hand off his own sensors, it just wouldn't have been right, not here in this house with an unlocked door between him and his former life...

Gadget began to relax.

In a moment between sleeping and waking he almost thought for a second that he was back in the past in his old body, he was John Brown again, human...

Then he remembered he was Gadget now and that was his life - and it was a life he was happy to live...

* * *

Scolex woke up in the dark, taking in a sharp breath as pain bit deep into his arm.

"What's going on?" he said, sitting up on the bed where he had fallen asleep in his clothes on top of the covers.

He saw a shadow loom above him, standing tall and lean and blocking out the moonlight that shone through the window.

He blinked and in an instant recognized the silhouette of his younger self.

"How did you get in here?" he said in a hushed voice, still clinging to the chance that the two of them could talk and work something out.

Scolex leaned closer as Sanford's vision began to blur.

It was then as his body grew weak he saw the shadowed outline of two others in the room..._Scolex had broken into the house in the dead of night and brought henchmen with him?_

"What's the meaning of this?" Sanford said weakly as he began to slide back on to the bed as his body gave into exhaustion.

It was then he saw the moonlit tip of hypodermic in the hand of the younger Scolex.

"Don't bother trying to fight it," he whispered, "I've drugged you, and you're coming with me. I _want_ that cybernetic hand of yours!"

Sanford wanted to fight back, but it was too late.

As the shadowy figures stepped forward to grab him, the last thing he saw was his younger self standing back, looking monochrome against the moon's glow as hands reached for him, and then the drug took over and the world turned to black.

* * *

As Scolex stole away silently from the house, John and Penny slept on.

Gadget was just about to slide into a deep sleep, and the sound of a door closing jolted him awake.

He sat up and listened, wondering if something was wrong. Then he heard a car drive away, and then the street below was lit up by a group of drunken passers by who had just left a party. Their voices babbled briefly and then faded off into the distance, and Gadget thought no more of it. He had felt quite exhausted since journeying through time and while Sanford often rested too, he guessed that was more from the need to be alone, but Gadget still felt weary from the journey, and as he closed his eyes, sleep began to slide over him, almost covering him.

_Almost._

Then an error message flashed up at the back of his mind:

_Corrupt file?_

Gadget opened his eyes, gave a sigh and then focused on the message in his mind.

"Not again...access file and run."

_The inner memory switched from faded swirls to a picture dim but all the same, it was there when it ought not to be, because this was a memory from the future, his own time, dated around the time Jax Wilberforce had built the Waking Dreams facility._

_Brenda was in her office._

_She got up and looked into his eyes as she tried to hold back tears._

"_I'm so sorry, Gadget," she said, "This is my fault...it's all my fault!"_

_And Gadget held her in his arms; he held her and told her he loved her._

_As she pulled back she still looked tearful._

"_Don't you blame me? I am to blame for this, I should have tried harder..."_

"_No one could try as hard as you," Gadget replied, "You want to know how much I blame you? Let me show you..."_

_And he drew a box from his pocket and opened it, revealing a diamond ring that sparkled as the light caught it._

_He looked at her with love his eyes._

"_Blame you? For what, saving my life? I think we should get married, the sooner the better."_

_And Brenda hugged him again, sobbing against his shoulder as he held her._

"Save file." Gadget said aloud, and then he lay awake long into the night as he thought of Bess and Brenda and wondered why the future was showing him an alternative – a life with Brenda instead of Bess.

He was sure in his own time those changes had not happened yet, but they were on the way, about to happen, something was about to happen that would see the future changed beyond all recognition...

He thought of Sanford and his obsession with changing the past and felt glad to know he was safely asleep in the spare room.

Gadget wondered if he ought to go and check on him, just to make sure he wasn't planning any secret calls to his younger self, but then he dismissed that idea as he turned his thoughts back to the scenario that had just played out in his mind.

He wondered why, in this alternative future, he was still with Brenda, to think about it too much would only cause heartache, because he had loved and lost her long ago in his own timeline...then he wondered why she was crying, and why he had waited so long to marry her.

And then with many questions but no answers to consider, Gadget slipped into an uneasy sleep as he wondered what else was waiting in the mists of time to turn around and change all that was once set in stone - but for now, no more corrupt files turned up...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sanford woke up as the velvet voice of his younger self spoke his name.

"_I said, wake up, old man!"_

As he opened his eyes, he finally realized something he ought to have known before he had ever stepped into the time machine – if he had thought about it, recalled what he used to like in his youth, he should have expected this to happen:

_His younger self didn't care about anything but getting what he wanted at any cost. He was cold because he felt as if his heart was frozen, like his blood had turned to ice and frozen solid in his veins. When a man felt like that, he cared about no one._

He had forgotten just how far down, how deep into the darkness he had descended back in those days. And now as he looked up at the man who stood over him, he was confronted by it as sure as he knew his own face, it was the reflection of a dark past looking back at him.

"I may be a few years older, but I'm certainly wiser for it!" Sanford snapped, struggling and then giving up as he became aware that he had been strapped down to a table in the lab.

He was still dressed but his shirt sleeve had been rolled up, revealing a join between human and cybernetic skin at his wrist where the robotic hand was attached.

"You will gain nothing by doing this to me," Sanford said, "I'm you many years from now, if you kill me –"

"I'm not going to kill you," Scolex replied, "I'm going to _change_ you. Because I have _no_ intention of becoming you many years from now! You're pathetic with your remorse and your obsession with the need to put the world to rights!"

Sanford looked up at the younger man and laughed bitterly.

"You'll _still_ make mistakes. I know it because I know myself; I remember what I was like! You'll just wreck your life and become a sad and bitter man, lonely... you will have to go through a lot of pain before you realize the truth and you can look yourself in the eye again! And you will never, ever lose that feeling of regret when you look back at all the years you're about to waste!"

Scolex slid his fingertips beneath the seal and tugged at the artificial skin and it slipped off revealing a gleaming robotic hand made of intricate workings. He looked at the steel and the wires in deep fascination.

"Your hand has more technology inside it than anything the Bradford Laboratory could come up with!" he exclaimed, leaning closer as he watched the metal gleam beneath the harsh lights above.

Then a middle finger flicked up sharply, almost catching his eye.

The robotic hand relaxed again as Sanford glared at his younger self.

"I won't let you take this kind of technology, you're too dangerous," Sanford told him, _"So go ahead, and kill me. Kill yourself, Scolex..."_

The younger man was visibly disturbed, feeling uncomfortable as he stepped away from the table.

"I've no intention of killing myself. I shall study the way this hand works, how it's attached and then remove it. After that I'll let you go – I'll have no further use for you."

"So who do you intend to use to remove my hand, I didn't think you were at the point where you had minions to obey your every order. That doesn't happen for another year. I doubt if your two hired heavies who helped to take me from the house would know much about cybernetic surgery."

"This is a robotics industry; my interest is in building androids. I have no cybernetic surgeon. _But I know where I can get one from_."

And then Scolex smiled, turned away and left the lab, locking the door behind him.

Sanford struggled to get free but his bonds were heavily locked down.

He lay there alone and clung to the hope that Gadget would work out that he had not left of his own free will.

And then a thought hit him:

What had Scolex said, that he knew where he could get a cybernetic surgeon?

"_Oh no, Brenda!"_ he said aloud and struggled again, but soon gave up, knowing there was no hope of escape.

* * *

John had given Penny a ride to school, and then he had turned the car around to go home again as he wondered what to do about tracing Riley Hammerstone. He had kept quiet about those plans over breakfast because he knew Penny would want to help, and he felt sure she would be safer if she was kept out of the situation. Sanford had not been up when he left, and he wondered what plans he was forming to try to achieve his goal of changing the future of his younger self...

John kept his eyes fixed on the road and as he drove he thought only of the situation around Gadget and Sanford; he could not identify with being a part of this chain of events that would lead him to become Gadget, nor did he want to think about it as being a real possibility.

As he drove he thought about the future, he watched as the car headed on in a straight line, and considered how time was like that – going forward, leaving the past far behind...

_And then he made a decision._

As soon as he was decided on his course of action, all his fears for the future slipped away.

When he reached home he parked the car and got out and walked up to the front door, pausing to think about how he would explain his decision to Gadget.

Then he opened the door and went inside.

He found Gadget in the garden, sitting at the table on the patio and looking thoughtfully towards the bottom of the garden where Brain was busy digging.

"Sanford not up yet?" he asked as he sat down.

Gadget shook his head.

"I thought it might be best to leave him to sleep. He's been so quiet since I showed up. I know he used the time machine with the best intentions, but I think he's regretting it now. He must have known when he met the other Scolex that nothing can persuade him to change his plans."

"But maybe if we find Riley, things could be different," John pointed out.

Gadget frowned.

"I'm not so sure they ought to be different. I can't see Scolex changing the course of his life, and I was the prototype cyborg. I accepted that long ago. If I go back and I stay completely human and never become a part of the Gadget project, I won't recall any of this – I have a electronic back up system where I can store all memories. If the time line shifts, the electronic section won't be there to keep the recordings."

"So when you get sent back, _if_ you're still Gadget you can recall the memories – but Sanford won't?"

"It's possible if the timeline changes dramatically. I'm part machine so I can collect and store everything. He can't."

John paused, knowing what Gadget had just said made his own decision all the more difficult to explain.

"_I've figured something out. If I change direction, the future changes. I have to look out for me. I'm quitting my job at Bradford Laboratories as of today."_

Gadget stared at him.

"But if you do that –"

"I won't be in an explosion. I won't be a cyborg. I get to live my life, get older and be you _without_ the cybernetics."

Emotion swept over Gadget without warning and he took in a sharp breath as he held back his tears.

"I can't imagine being human again, I'm too afraid to because this is how I am now... it would be going backwards, and wanting too much, more than I dare to dream about."

"Trust me," John replied, "I'll save us both."

Gadget got up from his seat.

"I'd better see if Sanford's up yet," he replied, and left the room, not wanting to continue a conversation that gave him a glimmer of hope for something he had long ago thought was lost forever.

Gadget went upstairs and knocked on Sanford's door.

He got no reply and called his name, still there was no response and as he gave the door a push it swung open.

Gadget glanced around the room; the covers were disturbed but the bed did not look slept in.

"Sanford?" he called again, and headed for the bathroom.

But the door was wide open and the room was empty.

Gadget started to worry as he thought about how determined his closest friend had been to alter the past for the better.

But nothing would persuade Scolex from his plans, he didn't even know for sure how the younger man would react if Sanford bothered him again – a year from now he was destined to kill Artemus Bradford, so what was stopping him from killing his older self, especially if he believed he could alter his own future? He could imagine the younger Scolex could well consider that possibility – and there was the matter of Sanford's cybernetic hand, created with future technology...if he managed to remove it, terrible damage could be done to the future...

Gadget hurried back downstairs.

John came out to the hallway as he heard him running and when Gadget reached the bottom of the stairs, John caught the look of alarm on his face and guessed at once that something was wrong.

"Scolex has gone; I think he might be planning to talk to his younger self again. I don't want him messing around with the timeline. I'd better go and catch up with him."

_"I'll come with you."_

John's reaction had been instinctive, but Gadget shook his head.

"You want to change our future, remember? That means keeping out of trouble. Go and see what you can find out about Riley Hammerstone – I have to get over to the Scolex building and try and find Sanford."

"Okay – but if you're not back before mid day I'm going over to see Scolex."

"Are you sure you want to take that risk?" Gadget asked.

John smiled.

"Either way, I have to look out for me," he replied, "Good luck, Gadget."

"You too. Try a search of public records, you might come up with something," Gadget replied, and then he turned to the door, but turned back again, feeling awkward about to asking a favor this big...

"Can I borrow your car?"

"Sure," John replied, "I guess as you're me, it's yours too."

Gadget smiled.

"Thanks," he replied, and then he snatched up the keys to the white convertible and hurried out the door.

* * *

Far away in the future, Brenda was in her office when a message flashed up on her screen to say the second simulation of the testing was complete on the sealant that had fixed Gadget's cable.

The first test had been run purely to see if the solution would seal the cable, and the simulation had confirmed success. The long term simulation had taken many hours to complete. But after seeing such immediate effect, she had no concerns about the outcome.

_Until that outcome flashed up on the screen._

Brenda stared at the image of the cable, the solution eroding rapidly and exposing cracks that had been sealed, now opening up again.

_"No..."_

She tapped in some commands and opened up the screen, reading out the result:

_Success of procedure immediate, 24-48 hr+ security. Result after this period – due to transit of aggressive fluids and effect on sealant, total failure inevitable..._

"Oh no, Gadget!" she said in alarm, and grabbed the phone, making an urgent call to the Inspector, who she believed to be resting at home with Bess.

The phone rang and rang, and then she heard Gadget's voice on the end of the line.

"Hello..."

Brenda felt rather strange, and then she realized it was because Gadget usually said, _Gadget speaking_ or _Gadget here_...

"Gadget, listen to me this is urgent," she said, "I need you to come back, there's a problem."

There was a pause.

"Who is this?" he wondered.

"It's me, it's Brenda – didn't you recognize my number when it came up? And how many years have we talked on the phone...you ought to know my voice instantly! Are you feeling okay?"

"Um...I guess so. What's the problem, Dr Bradford?"

"I need you to come in to the lab, I have to explain something to you about the sealant. There could be a problem."

"No, I don't need to do that, I'm fine."

"Please, just let me show you the simulation."

He gave a sigh.

"Okay, I'm on my way over with Bess."

Then he put the phone down, leaving Brenda with the oddest feeling that Gadget _really_ didn't sound like himself at all...

* * *

Bess had wanted to drive on the way over to the lab, but Felix had insisted on driving instead because she was so distraught on hearing the news about a problem with the sealant.

"He's far away, he doesn't know there's a problem... Oh God, Felix – what if the cable ruptures? He's in 1998, back in those days they couldn't even make non toxic cybernetic fluid, so how the hell can they fix a main cable?"

Felix sped up as the cybernetics center grew closer.

"Don't think about it," he said, "In a few hours the recall circuit will kick in and bring them both back. You and Brenda need to get the OR ready so you can take Gadget straight in there and re install the pumping system. I'm sure it'll hold for a while longer – simulations often show the worst case scenario, it doesn't mean it's written in stone. Just remember there's a chance he could be perfectly okay for a while yet."

They came to a halt outside the cybernetics center.

Worry reflected in her eyes as Bess got out of the car.

"I hope you're right," she said, and hurried up the steps and Felix hurried after her.

"Bess wait up –"

She stopped, turning back to him with tearful eyes as they stood at the entrance.

"What, Felix?"

"Don't blow my cover unless you have to. Brenda just wants to show us the simulation, she doesn't want to examine Gadget so there's no need to tell her the truth yet – we'll tell her around six pm tonight, around half an hour before the recall circuit brings him back. Then if he has a problem, she can put the pump back. But we can't tell her yet, she could tell Quimby and then Gadget's in a lot of trouble."

Bess drew in a deep breath as she composed herself and tried to get her jangling nerves under control again as they entered the building, and walked towards the elevator.

"Okay, I'll do it your way – but only for now," she said, and they and headed up to Brenda's office.

Brenda was waiting in the hall and as they left the elevator she grabbed hold of Felix by the sleeve of Gadget's trench coat, hurrying him towards her office.

"Gadget, you have to see this...just sit down and watch the long term result simulation...this is _not _good news..."

Bess stood and watched as Brenda offered him the seat behind her desk, and then hit a key to run the simulation.

As he saw the moving image turn three dimensionally to enhance detail on the erosion of the sealant, he shook his head.

_"This shouldn't be happening...but then again it's never been used on a cyborg before, it's never been in contact with cybernetic fluid and all its components."_

Brenda blinked.

"Excuse me, Gadget? You're not concerned? How come you're being so analytical about this?"

"Because I need to look in to it. Just let me run a few options through the simulator..."

Brenda stared as Gadget began to type in complicated scientific formulas and then watched, as each component he had added took no effect.

"I think it's a fault within the system somewhere," he said thoughtfully as he accessed records and began to search through Gadget's notes.

Brenda was still staring at him.

"Since when did you become a scientist or a doctor, Gadget? Leave those files alone, you don't know what you're doing!"

And he glanced at Bess.

"_Not yet."_

Brenda was utterly confused.

"What do you mean, not yet? What's going on?"

"Hopefully nothing, but unfortunately it looks like there _could_ be something..." he replied, scanning through more notes and then accessing details of Gadget's blood samples and essential cybernetic fluids, taken last time he had visited the cybernetics center.

"Have you still got the blood samples taken before the cable was fixed?"

Brenda was still staring, as she looked at him and wondered why Gadget seemed to have turned into someone else all of a sudden...

"Yes, why?"

"You need to screen the blood, do a cell count, I think you'll find there's not enough red blood cells in there. The cybernetic fluid is becoming too acidic and its attacking the sealant because there's not enough red cells in there to even things out."

And he turned from the screen and looked to Brenda.

"_The simulation result was based on a sample of blood and cybernetic fluid. The imbalance in the blood is causing the fluid to attack the sealant, it's as simple as that - so there you have it - the reason why the sealant didn't work."_

Brenda's jaw dropped briefly as she struggled to find the right words while so many questions were swirling around in her mind – the main one being, _how_ did Gadget get so medically and scientifically smart all of a sudden?

"How can you know all this, Gadget?" she exclaimed, "You're a cop, okay, you're a _cyborg_ cop, you're a fine detective, too – but you just did my job for me!"

And he glanced at Bess and shook his head, then looked back at Brenda.

"Under the circumstances, I think I should own up now. _I'm not Gadget._ I'm Felix Todd and I changed places with him so he could use the time machine and go back and stop Sanford messing up the future. Bess worked it out and I'm afraid to say, so did Taylor Braydon – but _only_ because our personalities are so opposite. Gadget wanted me to keep it secret –"

_"You sent him back through time?"_ Brenda fumed, _"Are you insane?"_

Anger flashed in his eyes.

"Yeah honey I guess I am, I'm sitting here dressed as Inspector Gadget when I _should_ be over at Braydon Industries checking the machine's ready for the recall circuit to kick in, but I _do_ understand why Gadget did it - and I was happy to help because the timeline getting screwed up could be pretty serious stuff! He wanted to find Sanford and keep him out of trouble until the machine brings them both back. As a scientist, I can understand his point of view- and so should _you_, Dr Bradford!"

Brenda slowly nodded.

"I can understand why he did it – but Quimby told him not to go!"

"_Exactly. Hence me and the cosplay!"_

Then Felix got up and took off Gadget's hat and coat and draped the coat over the back of Brenda's chair and handed the hat to Bess.

As he spoke again, all anger had left his voice.

"I saw in his records he was given the first ever cybernetic fluid formula, and it was in his system for three years before it was changed to the non toxic alternative. _That's how I figured it out_."

And he paused, looking at Bess and Brenda and thinking how difficult it would be for both of them to hear this news, because they both cared about Gadget.

"The computer simulation already confirmed it, but you can run a test on his blood sample anyway, the results will match up – the toxins from the first formula stay in the body, they _never_ leave. And he's had that poison inside him for almost twenty years. I guess you couldn't create the first cyborg without creating a few problems – even if they were likely to turn up later rather than sooner. When he gets back, if the cable is still holding, you need to apply another coat of sealant to the cable and then fit him with radioactive implants and have him internalize it via his shield system. That should keep him well enough to keep the cable strong and stop him deteriorating for a while."

Bess felt as if the room was about to spin as she took in a breath and looked to Brenda, saw she had tears in her eyes, and then turned to Felix and demanded an answer.

"What are you talking about, Felix? Are you saying the experimental cybernetic fluid he had all those years ago has made him sick _now_? Are you sure?"

"I've seen it before," Felix replied, "Not many people had the first formula, but I've seen this kind of outcome with others. But it's not all bad, he's a heavily modified cyborg, he will cope very well, he will most likely feel tired most of the time but he _will_ cope. The radiation can hold it back but its not a cure. He needs a bone marrow transplant – we know he has a compatible donor in Scolex, so it should work out. _I hope it does_."

Bess looked sharply at Brenda.

"But it was cable damage, that was all –"

"And the sealant won't work because his blood and cybernetic fluids are sharply out of balance." Felix replied, "Bess, this could be much worse. We've picked up on it in time. He's sick and he doesn't know it yet, but a transplant will fix the problem."

Brenda was still tearful as she stepped closer to Bess and spelled it out:

"Gadget has a condition limited to older cyborgs who had the experimental formula many years ago. He's got Cybernetic Toxin Specific Leukemia."

Bess gave a sob and Brenda hugged her tearfully.

"I'm going over to Braydon Industries," Felix said in a hushed voice, "I have to get that recall circuit checked before it kicks back in. I'll probably see you over there..."

And then he walked out of the room, feeling uncomfortable to do anything else, because to stand there while the two women embraced and wept was just too much to deal with, when he was far more comfortable with the safe world of science, where at least the time machine would be running smoothly...

* * *

Gadget was on his way through town, driving the white convertible that reminded him of his youth as he felt a mix of nostalgia and concern for Sanford. He was hoping Scolex wouldn't harm him – but knowing him and recalling him as he did from the old days, he knew his friend was up against the dark side of his younger self, who was _not_ a man to be underestimated...

He thought of home and how things would be when he got back – sure, the Chief would be mad at him for using the time machine without permission, but as long as the timeline was safe, that was all that mattered.

Part of him wanted John to quit his job and live a safe, happy life so he could go back and find his own destiny had been changed for the better. He had accepted being a cyborg was a permanent state of being many years ago, but time travel made all things possible – and that was one change he didn't mind dreaming about.

_And then the ache returned to his neck sharply._

Gadget kept hold of the wheel with one hand while he pressed the other against the side of his neck, trying to kill the throbbing pain that was coming and going around the repaired cable.

Then as he took in a breath and tried to focus on the road instead of the pain, he felt a popping sensation. There was another ache and he blinked as his vision misted over but cleared again.

The ache was still there, dull and nagging and he knew at once the sealant had not been as effective as he first thought.

He put his hand back on the wheel and looked down, wishing he could see the computerized face of the Gadget Mobile, but this was just his old white convertible, the sentient car was yet to exist..

_"I wish you could talk,"_ he said quietly, _"I'm getting scared, Gadget Mobile. I think there's something wrong with me, and no one can fix me because the technology doesn't exist here in '98..."_

And all he heard in reply was the sound of the engine as the car swallowed more road, moving on towards the Scolex building in the heart of town.

* * *

Brenda was in the lab and working on the Gadget Project.

She had no idea as she wondered how long it would take to remove the toxins from the cybernetic formula, that many years into the future, her older self would be weeping over the consequences of Gadget using the formula she was in the middle of working on, that formula wouldn't be changed for three more years, and by then, it would be too late, but she wouldn't know it, she knew none of it – because this was the past, where it all began...

John Brown tapped on the door.

As Brenda stopped work and looked up at him she smiled.

"This is a nice surprise. I thought you were working nights?"

"Not any more," he told her, "This changes nothing between us, but I've just handed in my notice. I've quit my job."

Brenda stared at him.

"Why?"

"I can't go into it," John told her, "I don't want you to think it's because of us, that's not the reason why I'm leaving. I just want to try something different. I'm not sure what, but I _know_ it won't involve danger."

Brenda's eyes filled with confusion.

"What danger?"

"Well, being a security guard for a research lab as big as this one – it could, in theory, prove dangerous if someone tried to break in and steal technology. Not that I think they would, I'm just saying it as an example. I was thinking about Penny and how I want to be sure I'll be around for her. That's why I want to take a different job – preferably one that doesn't involve me carrying a gun."

"I can understand that," Brenda replied, "But no one knows what the future holds, John."

And then she fell silent as she thought of Inspector Gadget.

"What's wrong?" John asked, and Brenda shook her head.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about someone..."

And she felt a flicker of guilt as she smiled at John and told him she would see him soon, and as he walked away she was still thinking about the man in the trench coat named Inspector Gadget, the man whose firm body was filled with amazing technology...

She knew in her heart that she loved John. She had loved him from the day they had first met when he first started work as a security guard. But it wasn't every day she met a time traveling cop – who happened to be the result of the Gadget Project many years into the future...

"_Don't think about him, Brenda,"_ she whispered as she turned back to her work, _"I know he's hot – but you can't have the time traveler!"_

Then she turned her attention back to the screen and began to work yet again on the problem with the formula that she could not crack.

As she heard footsteps behind her and then felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, she stopped work and drew her hands away from the keyboard, minimizing the formula problem as she started to smile.

"Back again John? You wanted a kiss goodbye, am I right?" she said softly, and turned and looked up.

"_Wrong!"_ Hissed Scolex as he grabbed her and held a damp cloth over her nose and mouth.

As the fumes hit her, she knew she was being drugged. She tried to fight, but slipped unconscious against him.

Scolex lifted her into his arms, carried her to the door and checked the corridor was empty, before hurrying for the fire exit.

As he slipped out of the building he looked down at the very attractive Dr Bradford and smiled.

"Some day I think I'll have a robotic plaything made in your image," he said as he carried her over to his car, "I might call her Robo Brenda..."

And then he laid her in the back of the car, pausing to brush a lock of red hair from her face as he thought again how pretty she was, and then he shut the door and got into the drivers seat and started the engine. He drove away at speed, now thinking only of his plans – because he had a cybernetic hand that needed to be removed from his older self, and the lovely Dr Bradford was the perfect person to do it for him...

* * *

John Brown had a busy morning searching through public records. He found Riley Hammerstone's birth details, his mother's death certificate, even where the boy was living now – he was here in Riverton – but that was when he hit a brick wall with the inquiry.

_He could find no documentation of Riley's legal adoption._

The detective in him, the detective he knew he was destined to be, was sure there was more to this story.

John began to dig deeper.

The search took half the morning and he stopped only to check his watch as he remembered his promise to Gadget.

And then John Brown made a discovery that made him think perhaps he ought to hold on to his dream of one day becoming a cop – because he had just had a breakthrough :

_John had discovered that Riley Hammerstone had never been legally adopted._

He made some calls, asking around, made one call to a friend who worked in the local bank came up with an unexpected result:

At first, his former college friend had been reluctant to talk about something so confidential. But when he had explained it was about a child he was concerned about, his friend looked up an account – and was able to confirm that for two years, the parents of Sanford Scolex's dead fiancee had been paying the Hammerstones to raise Riley.

John had thanked him for his time and promised to buy him a beer next time he had a day off, and then he ended the call, stepped out of the phone booth and as a bus turned the corner, he ran towards the stop, and it pulled in and he got on, paid to go as far as the outskirts of Riverton and then he sat down.

As the bus pulled away he was still slightly breathless from his run. He checked his watch, saw it was almost ten thirty and hoped he would make it back in time to meet up with Gadget, because the thought of him going over to the Scolex building on his own made him uneasy. As the bus moved on his thoughts turned back to Riley Hammerstone:

That boy was being raised by people paid by his grandparents; it was all part of a plan to keep Riley hidden from Sanford, to make him believe his son was dead...

_It was illegal._

_John had always had a strong sense of fairness and justice._

_He also believed in doing the right thing at any cost – and that boy needed to be with his father._

And he knew what he was going to do before he reached the stop that would lead to the Hammerstone's address – he was going to confront them with the truth and call the cops if he had to, that boy was going back where he belonged, back to his father Sanford Scolex...

* * *

Gadget parked the white convertible outside the Scolex building.

He looked across the parking area and noticed the black limo belonging to the younger Scolex was in its usual prominent position outside the back of the building, in the reserved area. The pain in his neck throbbed again and he got out of the car, closed the door and then leaned against it to steady himself.

"I don't know what to do, Gadget Mobile," he said weakly, "I don't need an expert to tell me the cable's leaking again...I'm too far from home, I can't make it back now..."

And then he turned and looked to the interior of the car, but there were no illuminated controls, no computerized screen showing the car's familiar face, and he remembered again that this was a year before the Gadget Project took off, in this time there was no Gadget Mobile, just John Brown's white convertible.

"I miss you," he said, as he thought of his talking car, that car that had been loyal, funny, infuriating and when all was said and done, a friend...

_Gadget had never felt so alone._

Then as he looked towards the black limo, something glinted in the sunlight on the ground below the passenger door.

Gadget rubbed his aching neck and walked over to the car.

As he looked down at the ground and saw a broken necklace, he leaned over and picked it up, studying the slender chain and the gold italic initial B...

_He had seen that chain before, around the neck of Brenda Bradford when he visited her at the lab..._

Gadget took in a sharp breath as the realization hit him hard enough to banish pain and weakness as determination took its place.

"_He's got Brenda!"_ he said in a shocked voice, and then his eyes blazed as he looked up and up at the dark tower owned by the younger Scolex.

Then Gadget began to walk with purpose towards the entrance of the building.

As he walked, he knew this was probably the last case he would ever work on, the last fight he would ever take on too. He was the prototype, an old cyborg now, a damaged and dying cyborg because that cable was leaking and no technology existed here in the past to fix it - but he wasn't going to fade away quietly, not when the other Scolex had his best friend and the woman he loved held captive.

He thought some more about Brenda Bradford:

_Yes, he did love her._

_He had always loved her._

_From the moment they had first met, it had always been her._

_Even now he was with Bess and their happiness felt so complete – Brenda was still in his heart, and always would be._

_He could not stop loving her if he tried..._

Gadget knew his only regret was that he had realized the depth of his love for her now at the end, when it was too late, but he knew it for sure and that knowledge burned bright and kept him strong enough to gather the will to make a final stand as he reached the back entrance to the Scolex building.

"_Weapons Mode on."_ He said in a low voice, and then he pushed open the door, determined to save the ones he loved, or at least if he failed, to die trying...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Brenda woke up with a headache as Scolex shook her.

"Come on, Brenda," he said sharply, "I have a job for you to do..."

As she came to her senses she looked fearfully at him, recognizing a face she had not seen since college – _Sanford Scolex..._

"I liked you better when you were fat!" she said bitterly as genuine hurt registered in his eyes.

"Come with me, sit down – _don't _struggle..."

He kept a tight grip on her wrists as he pushed her into a seat in his office.

Brenda looked around; the dark room was only lit by the narrow window and a fire that burned in a large hearth, this room was mostly grey and the shadows it threw off seemed to reflect in his eyes as he stood over her and looked down at her.

"You've gone too far. I heard you were ruthless but this is kidnap, Scolex!"

"I have a proposition for you," he told her, "I have access to advanced technology beyond my – beyond _our_ – wildest dreams. I'll share it with you; I'll split the profits down the middle. But there's one problem – it's attached to a cyborg. _I need you to remove a robotic hand_."

Her eyes widened as the drug rapidly wore off and her strength and awareness began to creep back.

"You want me to remove a working cyborg part from a living person? You _are_ insane!"

And then she paused and thought about what he had said.

"_Advanced _technology? This is about time travel... Oh no, I _won't_ help you get your hands on that kind of technology!"

"Yes you will!"" he said sharply.

"You'll have to kill me first," Brenda said in a low voice.

Scolex hesitated, then laughed nervously.

"I think you misunderstand, Brenda. Yes, I brought you here against your will, but only because I knew you wouldn't agree unless I forced you! But now you're here, surely you can see advantages to an alliance with me."

Then he smiled hopefully.

"Maybe_ more_ than a working relationship – who knows, in time, with a lot of money and careful persuasion perhaps you and me could –"

"_Shut up!"_ Brenda yelled, _"There's no way, Scolex! If you don't let me go right now, I'm going to the cops!"_

He hesitated, feeling a brief flash of panic as he realized he was now in a situation that was spiraling out of control.

He ran his fingers through his hair and muttered, _"Why do I never think these things through?"_

Brenda heard him.

"Because you're basically stupid?" she offered.

Scolex grabbed her again and dragged her from her seat.

As he began to lead her from the office to a back room, she struggled, got a hand free and screwed it into a fist, swinging a punch that hit him in the face with a sharp crack.

He staggered for a moment, but quickly regained control, pinning her hands behind her back as they entered his private lab.

"Don't bother fighting me," he said, "You won't win. Take a look at this – and then consider how wealthy the hand could make us both!"

And he let go sharply, shoving her away as she stumbled forward, slamming into the table.

As she put her hands on the edge of it to raise herself upright, she stared at the robotic hand that was a fraction from her face.

"_Oh my God..."_ she said in a hushed voice.

Then she straightened up, looked at the man on the table, and then back at Scolex, then back to the man on the table again.

"Yes that's right," said the older Sanford, "I'm him, many years from now. I came back here to stop him from turning to crime, but it seems all I've achieved is to make him turn to it much sooner than expected!"

Brenda drew in a shocked breath as she thought of the mysterious Inspector she couldn't forget.

"He's here, he's looking for you..." she whispered.

Sanford nodded.

"Let's hope he gets here soon..."

The younger Scolex stepped forward.

"What's this about?"

Brenda fell silent.

"She won't do it!" Sanford snapped, "You'll have to kill us both – I don't think you have it in you _yet_ to become a murderer! I think you can still step back from this situation, you can turn your life around...But only if you do it _now_. You won't get another chance."

And the younger Scolex hesitated again.

Then anger burned in his darkening eyes.

"You will remove that hand," he said in low voice as he fixed his gaze on Brenda, "Because I won't allow you to leave until you do!"

And then he grabbed her again, dragged her over to a chair at the back of the lab and shoved her into it.

Then he smiled slyly.

"It's up to you, Brenda. We can wait all day for your decision. But if you don't agree now, I'll have to tie you up, lock you in here and wait. You'll come around eventually."

And Brenda looked around the lab, through a wall and door made of reinforced glass. She knew there was no escape...

"I'm waiting,"Scolex reminded her.

She looked at him defiantly.

"You're in for a _long_ wait!" she snapped, and then she fell silent, her thoughts turning to the police Inspector from the future, and hopes of rescue.

* * *

John Brown had reached the home of Riley Hammerstone.

He rang the bell and stood on the large porch, and when a maid answered the door, he flashed his security ID that he had forgotten to hand in when he quit his job at the lab – he briefly showed it, wondered if he was crazy to be going above the law to do what was right in this situation, and then said, _"FBI."_

The maid stared at him.

"You want to see Mr Hammerstone? He is at work."

"Then I'll see Mrs Hammerstone, please. This is about Riley."

The maid stepped back and let him in at once, and asked him to wait while she hurried off to find Mrs Hammerstone.

John did not wait in the hallway.

He took a stroll down the long hall and glanced in at big, well furnished rooms, but saw no sign of the boy.

Then he came to the front room, and sawthe doors were open to a wide garden beyond.

A small boy was peering over the edge of a fountain.

He stopped exploring the garden and looked up at John.

"Hi," he said, "Riley? I'm John, your Daddy sent me. I'm here to help."

The young boy looked at him for a moment, then took little toddler steps towards him, with a questioning look in his eyes.

_"Daddy?"_ he said, as confusion filled his eyes.

"Do you know who Daddy is?" he asked.

The boy shook his head.

"You will, "John promised him, "When you go home."

Then John heard voices.

The maid had mentioned the word _police_, and the woman who ran on to the lawn glanced back at her.

"No," she said anxiously, "_No police_. This is a private matter."

And then she glared at John.

"What's the meaning of this?"

He looked back at the well dressed woman with long dark hair who looked to be around thirty and knew at once he had worked it out right:

_Of course she didn't want the police involved; Riley had been hidden away here purely to stop Sanford from tracing his son..._

"You're being paid to care for Riley. His name isn't even Hammerstone, not legally – it's _still_ Scolex! This is an illegal arrangement made by the parents of the child's deceased mother to prevent Sanford Scolex from finding out his son is alive!"

And her face turned pale as she stammered an excuse.

"They're friends of ours. They said we could have him, they would pay us, and also help my husband expand his business. What harm have we done? I have three children of my own, he's not lonely... and we've been good to him...we'd never harm him!"

John's eyes darkened with anger.

"You're _not _harming him? By hiding him away and bringing him up illegally, away from his real father? Scolex thought he was dead! How could you go along with that, this is about a little boy's life?"

She shrugged.

"It's none of my concern. We care for him..."

"And collect the money!" John reminded her.

Then he reached for Riley's hand.

"Come on, I'm taking you to meet your Daddy."

The woman stared at him.

"But you can't just come in here and take him –"

"If you don't like it I suggest you call the cops," he told her, "You can tell them Riley is safe and well and reunited with his father. _And then you can make a statement about your involvement in this conspiracy_."

She froze as she heard him remind her of the depth of her involvement.

"No?" John asked, "Don't want to call the cops and confess to everything? Fine. I'll be on my way."

He lifted the little boy into his arms.

Young Riley looked at him with confusion in his eyes.

"It's okay Riley," he said to the child, "I'm taking you home to your Daddy."

And he shot an angry look back at Mrs Hammerstone.

"His _legal_ parent." He reminded her, and then walked away, out of the house, while the confused child clung to him.

As he hurried away from the house and headed for the end of the street, he wondered what impact his actions would have on the future – Scolex was about to be reunited with a son who he thought was lost forever...

Then John saw a taxi approaching and hailed it, got in with Riley and told the driver to take him to the Scolex building.

* * *

Gadget had made it into the back entrance of the building.

Here the corridor was empty, and he headed for the elevator.

As he walked towards it the ache in his neck throbbed.

He was sure something had broken in the cable, this wasn't a small leak, this was a heavy one and getting worse by the minute, he knew it as he felt his strength slipping away. But determination to reach Sanford and Brenda kept him going.

He had his weapons mode on, that was causing a lot of power to surge around his body as he prepared for a possible fight. He knew it was a drain on his strength at a time when he needed to save it, but circumstances wouldn't allow for it,no more than he could waste power by taking the stairs all the way to the top. Without the energy loss he was sure his legs could have bounded up those many flights, but not now, he was too far gone to waste the final reserve he had left.

The elevator doors slid open and he stepped inside, hitting the button for the top floor.

As the floors began to ascend, Gadget leaned against the wall and drew in a tired breath.

And then a message flashed up at the back of his mind:

_Corrupt files? _

He gave a sigh.

"Access and run," he said in a weary voice.

_The inner screen switched to a metal chamber. _

_He was inside it and the lid closed and locked, and he fought against fear and claustrophobia as hollow metal rods extended from the walls and began to press their sharp points against his mix of human and cybernetic flesh._

"_Don't let me die!" he gasped._

Then the scene switched to another:

_He was in the Chief's office._

"_It's the only crime you could never solve," Chief Quimby said to him, "So we're closing the case. I guess we'll never find the answer."_

_And then the Chief smiled._

"_But even Riverton's greatest detective can't be perfect. Don't lose sleep over it Gadget, go and spend some time with your wife. You deserve some time off –"_

"Save files," Gadget said aloud, and blinked as the inner screen faded.

_"More corrupt files?"_ he said aloud, wondering what it all meant – those two memories were from his own time, the first dated two years back and the second recently... it all made no sense, because this was some kind of ripple that had gone through the timeline, creating changes he knew little about, except for the new files that had turned up in his memory storage.

Then the doors opened and he stepped out, walked down the hall towards the door that led to the main office, and knocked on the it.

It was opened by a secretary.

"Mr Scolex is not to be disturbed," she informed him, "He's in a private meeting and said he would be some time –"

Gadget showed his badge.

"Riverton Police," he stated, "Let me through."

The woman saw the badge - but only briefly - as he put it away again.

"I'll just inform him –"

She stopped as Gadget gently placed his hand on hers, fixing her with a steel gaze.

_"Don't bother,"_ he said in a low voice, _"This is a serious police matter. I'm going straight in."_

And the woman fell silent as the powerfully built man in the trench coat strode up to the door of the main office.

* * *

In the lab beyond the office, Sanford had grown tired of waiting.

"I _will _use force," he told Brenda, "Don't make me get unpleasant, Brenda. Just remove the hand and then we can talk about money."

She rose from her seat and stepped closer, unafraid as she glared at him.

"I couldn't remove that hand if my life depended on it! He's from the future; he's _you_, many years from now, with technology many years advanced! I wouldn't even know _how_ to build something that intricate, let alone remove it!"

Sanford was still restrained. He turned his head and smirked at his younger self.

"Looks like you've messed up. And it won't be the last time!"

Scolex glared at him, then fixed his gaze on Brenda.

"You _will_ do as I ask," he said darkly, "The future of cybernetics depends on it! Think of the armies I could create with that kind of technology! My company would own the cybernetics market!"

"Oh not that again," complained the older Sanford, "You'll never get there, give it up now and save wasted years... Find your son instead. He _is_ alive!"

At the mention of his son, pain reflected in his eyes.

"And I will check out that address you gave me," Scolex added, "Just not yet, because I don't what to get my hopes up over something that wont become a reality!"

Then his eyes blazed with sudden anger.

_"I KNOW MY BOY IS DEAD, WHAT KIND OF A FOOL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?"_ he raged.

"One that won't listen to reason!" Sanford replied, "I wish I'd never come back here, you remind me what I used to be like, you add to my guilt and my shame!"

Scolex turned away from his older self and grabbed Brenda's wrist, twisting her arm as he glared at her.

"You _will_ remove that hand!"

"_Not if he stops you first!"_ she said defiantly.

"Who?" Scolex wondered.

"The Inspector!" she told him.

Scolex loosened his grip on her as he looked back at her in confusion.

"Inspector who?"

And there was a crash as the glass shattered and splintered shards, falling to the polished floor like a billion drops of frozen rain as a man leapt through it and into the lab, his trench coat billowing out as he landed perfectly, straightened up and paused to brush glass from the lapel of his coat.

"Inspector Gadget!" he replied in answer to his question, "Let them go, Scolex. _Go Go Gadget automatic laser weapon_."

And in the blink of an eye, his raised hand switched to a silver gun that let out a blue laser light, fixing its beam on Scolex as Gadget stayed locked on his target.

Scolex stared at him in utter shock.

"Who...what..._what_ are you?"

Gadget kept his aim true, ignoring the pain that flickered up and down the leaking cable in his neck as he spoke again:

"_I'm_ the future of cybernetics," he stated, "The first cyborg, the first cybernetically enhanced crime fighting machine. Let's not do this all over again. Because I win and you lose. I don't want to wait almost twenty years to have a best friend called Sanford, I want things to change _now_, for all of us, for the better –"

And he glanced to Brenda.

"Untie Sanford, please."

Then he turned back to the younger Scolex, who was looking at him in shock.

"You're a machine?"

"I'm seventy percent cyborg, because of what you did when you blew up my car. It hasn't happened yet."

Sanford had just been released from the table and he got up quickly, standing beside Brenda.

"Pretty soon the recall system will take us back to our own time," he said to his younger self, "Remember this, remember _everything_ I told you, because it's the _only_ chance you have to make changes in the future."

Scolex was visibly shaken as he looked back at Gadget.

"I caused an explosion that destroyed more than half your body?" he shook his head, adding, "No, I'm not capable of something like that..."

Gadget glanced at Brenda.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded.

"No cops," Gadget said to her, "I know he forced you to come here but if he gets in trouble now it will start over again. He needs to rethink his life. Give him that chance."

And he snapped his wrist back and the gun slid out of sight, replaced by his hand once more.

The younger Scolex was trembling as he looked into Gadget's eyes.

"I never would have thought I could cause such damage to another person...you're _seventy_ percent cyborg?"

All trace of anger had left Gadget's eyes.

"You had to see it to believe it," he replied, "I understand that."

And then the door opened and John walked in.

He cast a glance around the room.

"Is everything okay in here?"

"It's under control," Gadget replied.

"Great," John said, crossing the room quickly and handing the child in his arms over to Scolex.

_"The Hammerstones were holding him illegally. It was part of a plot to make you think he was dead."_

But Scolex barely heard a word of what had been said as he looked into the eyes of his son and then held him tightly as he sobbed tears of joy.

"I'll _never_ let you out of my sight again!" he said to the child, and the older Sanford thought of Riley far off in the future as he recalled him, and he smiled, getting a very certain feeling that Riley's accident would never happen – when they got home, his now grown up son would be totally human, never having needed a cybernetic body...

* * *

Bess and Brenda stood in the lab and watched as Felix checked the recall device.

"Is everything working?" Bess wondered.

Felix looked at her sharply.

"Well the timeline hasn't morphed it into some other kind of machine that I need to reprogram so I'd say yes, but I can't promise anything! Why does everyone think I know everything? I didn't build this thing!"

Then he switched on the monitor and watched as waves began to rise and fall, stretching out further with each movement.

"It's firing up," he said, "But I don't see a fixed point of return. It should be there, but it's not...it means they're coming back, but _not_ right here..."

And he paused and thought about it. He was still silent as Brenda spoke up.

"What do you mean, _not here_?"

He turned from the machine as the signal continued to gather in strength.

"I mean, the fixed point isn't fixed any more. It means _something _has changed in the time line, something major, and when they come back, our world shifts, I'm not sure in what way, I doubt if any of us will even recall it – but any minute now, there will be a split second where our reality shifts. And we'll go on oblivious to what went on before. Let's just hope the changes they made are good ones..."

"That's a scary thought," Bess said, and Brenda stepped closer to her and gripped her hand.

"I guess we'll soon find out," she said, and they looked back at the monitor, watching as the two power lines stretched back into the past, reaching for the time travelers.

* * *

Back in 1998, as the younger Scolex held his son in his arms and looked at him with joy in his eyes, Sanford's older self smiled.

"I can't wait to get back home," he said to Gadget, "I've got a lot of memories to catch up on."

"You won't recall the altered timeline," Gadget replied as he rubbed at his painful neck, "All you'll know of the other life is what you've been told, what you remember about the future. Don't forget anything we warned you about."

"I won't," The younger Scolex replied, and then his older self spoke up again.

"You can do this, you _can_ change your life. Riley is reason enough to make those changes."

Gadget kept his hand pressed against his neck as pain briefly registered on his face.

"My main cable's failing..."

"What?" Brenda said in horror.

She rushed to his side as John put his hands on Gadget's shoulders, steadying him as he briefly swayed.

"It's going to be okay," John reminded him, "I quit my job, and Scolex is changing his life too – it's all okay now..."

Sadness reflected in Gadget's eyes.

_"So how come I'm still a cyborg?"_

John slowly shook his head.

"I don't know..." he replied.

Gadget gripped his neck harder, drawing in a sharp breath as he fought off a wave of pain and weakness.

"I know I'm still a cyborg because my main cables still damaged from when Jax Wilberforce blew up the Riverton Bridge."

The younger Scolex was still holding his son in his arms.

"When was this?" he wondered.

"2013." Gadget replied, and then he looked to the older Sanford Scolex, the man who had become his closest friend.

"I guess Jax didn't change his mind after all," he said, "And you're _not_ to blame for that, my friend."

Then Gadget drew in another sharp breath as a look of fear flickered in his eyes and he sank to his knees as weakness swept over him.

Brenda gently placed her hand against a swelling that was building on the side of his neck and turned to the younger Scolex.

"He doesn't have much time, I have to get him into a lab, I need to open him up and drain some of this fluid and try and seal the cable."

"This is a robotics company!" Scolex replied, "I don't have that kind of facility here... maybe I could have him flown over to Riverton General –"

"He needs a cybernetics lab," Brenda reminded him.

Gadget struggled to focus on the older Sanford, he was watching helplessly and Gadget managed a weak smile.

"Go home and be happy," he said, "I want you to be happy, Sanford...you'll always be my best friend."

And Sanford blinked away tears and tried to speak, but something dragged him backwards, and in a fraction of a second, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" the younger Scolex said as he held on to his son and stared at the empty space where his older self had been standing seconds before, "He just vanished!"

"He's gone home," Gadget said breathlessly, then as he fell back he was cushioned as Brenda knelt down beside him and cradled him in her arms.

John Brown looked on as his older self, the prototype cyborg, lay weakly in the arms of Dr Bradford.

Brenda held him close and Gadget felt her tears warm and wet against his cheek.

"I'm so sorry I had no time with you," she whispered tearfully, "I'll never forget you, Gadget..."

And Gadget used the last of his strength to reach up and take hold of her hand. As she looked into his eyes he drew in a slow breath and spoke quietly to her.

_"Don't give up on us even when I do,"_ he murmured, _"Promise me."_

Brenda gave a sob and nodded, and then she kissed his cheek and continued to hold on to him as the dying cyborg lay in her arms and slowly closed his eyes. Brenda held him tighter, willing him to hold on.

_And suddenly she was clutching at thin air._

She jumped up from the floor, her face streaked with tears as she looked to John and then Scolex.

"Did you see what happened?"

Scolex nodded.

"He disappeared."

"I hope he makes it back, "John said quietly.

"So do I," she replied, and then he put his arm around Brenda and led her out of the room.

Scolex was left alone in his vast office, with his young son in his arms.

"I don't think I need a great big building like this, do I?" he said aloud, "I could hang on to the business for a couple of years and wait for a buyer to come along – I've heard Taylor Braydon has plans to expand into cybernetics when he takes over his father's company. They're good people – I know it will all be in trusted hands... I think I'll have to start making plans for the future, for you and me...what do you think about that, Riley?"

The little boy smiled.

"_Daddy."_ Said Riley Scolex, and in that moment all remains of coldness melted forever from Sanford's heart, and changed the course of history...

* * *

Gadget's last memory had been of the past, of being far away and feeling life begin to slip from his body as Brenda held him in her arms.

As he slowly became aware of a shifted reality, he knew he was not on the floor any more.

Gadget kept his eyes closed as he took in a couple of breaths, then cautiously reached up and touched the side of his neck.

He felt no pain, no swelling, and as he moved slightly, he knew the weakness was gone. His body felt like it was functioning normally. He was on top of a comfortable bed, but he could smell a trace of antiseptic and he knew he was at the cybernetics center, but he couldn't recall why, because his memories had not yet fallen into place and he could only guess at how many of them would be labelled as possible corrupt files if he tried to access them at this moment...

Someone approached his bed.

That same person began to gently stroke his hair.

_"Come on Gadget, open your eyes, honey..."_

He started to smile as he heard Brenda's voice, and opened his eyes and looked up at her.

_"You're worth coming back for,"_ he whispered.

"Coming back?" she repeated, "You were only gone for a few minutes."

Now he felt confused. He knew the timeline had changed he because felt it, he recalled the alternative timeline and all that had happened before, but his own awareness of the altered future was still hazy.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

Brenda stroked his hair again as love shone in her eyes as she looked at him.

"You passed out _again,_ Gadget! You have to stop getting so worked up about getting your blood checked. It's routine, there's no reason to think you'd get sick again..."

"I fainted?"

Gadget sat up on the bed, and noticed his coat was folded on a chair and his hat was on top of it.

He saw a rapidly healing puncture wound in his left arm and then rolled down his shirt sleeve and buttoned it up.

"Sorry if I scared you," he said to her.

As he spoke his heart was racing because he had glanced at her and seen so much in a split second as new memories hit him that it was hard to hold back from weeping_: Yes, he loved Brenda. He had always loved her. They had been together for many years, but had only married eighteen months ago..._

Gadget took hold of her hand, smiling as he caught sight of the gold band on her wedding finger that matched his own.

"I'm going to ask you some crazy questions," he said, "I realize it won't make a lot of sense, but play along..."

Brenda looked at him intently.

"What do you want to know?"

His heart was pounding again, his very _human _heart. He blinked away tears and knew at once that his dearest friend was Sanford Scolex, he knew so many things, but he also needed to hear it all from Brenda, just to confirm the new memories were all part of the altered timeline.

"Have I ever been in an explosion?" he asked her.

"No," Brenda replied, "Definitely not! You must have had a _very_ intense dream!"

"Have I ever, in my time as a cop, encountered a bad guy called Claw?"

She shook her head.

"Never heard of him," she replied.

"So I've never been exposed to an electro magnetic pulse weapon, I've never needed tissue damage repaired because of it?"

Brenda shook her head.

"How long have I been close friends with Sanford?" he wondered.

"Since the day you walked into his lab and put his son in his arms," she said warmly, "The day the other Scolex disappeared back through time. The day I held you in my arms and felt you slip away... "

And then it dawned on her as tears filled her eyes and emotion washed over her...

"_Oh my God...this is it...this is the moment you told me about years ago.._.You said, some day, in a blink of an eye, I'd have to help you catch up on everything because that will be your point of return and your electronic memories won't match up to the human ones, and you won't recall everything right away – oh Gadget, just wait..."

She took in a breath, blinked away more tears, but as they fell all the same she brushed them away and smiled.

"I want to see the look on your face when I remind you. Because I know how happy you were and how happy you'll be all over again when I tell you everything!"

She held his hand tighter as she sat closer to him, and Gadget thought about the vague memories that were starting to drift into his mind now.

"Have I ever damaged a main cable?"

"No!" she said at once, "I remember you in my arms on the day you vanished. I remember the cable was leaking. But in our timeline, from that day onwards, you've never had an accident that caused cable damage, it didn't happen."

"The Riverton Bridge didn't collapse?"

She shook her head.

"None of it happened. No explosives, no bridge collapse, no cable damage."

"Does Sanford work at the security center?"

"Of course he does, he's main controller and you and him fool around with the virtual rockets in the training mode all the time!"

Gadget thought about it some more.

"I'm missing something..."

"You certainly are," Brenda said softly, and her eyes were misted up with tears of joy again.

"What am I missing?" Gadget asked her.

She laughed softly.

"I'm trying to let it come back to you naturally; I want to see the look on your face when you remember..."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to remember, Brenda – it's all still hazy."

"Do you remember when we got married?"

Gadget felt a wave of emotion hit him as he recalled the day he had told her they ought to get married sooner rather than later, this had been after he had discovered he was sick and only a bone marrow transplant could save his life. Brenda had sobbed in his arms as she blamed herself as she recalled how he had been given the first ever cybernetic fluid formula so long ago, the toxic fluid that had caused his illness.

_"You think I blame you?" Gadget had said softly as she wept, "Why would I do that? Because you used a new branch of science to save my life when medicine couldn't help me? This is how much I blame you, Brenda_ –" And he had taken a box from his pocket, opened it up to reveal a diamond ring, and asked her to be his wife...

_More memories were coming back_.

He recalled the metal chamber he had been sealed in as robotically operated needles filled with radioactive implants were placed into his body, he remembered panicking as he sobbed that he didn't want to die – but then as his shields raised and held in the radiation, the sealed unit had opened and with the risk of radiation eliminated, Brenda had taken him in her arms and he had wept as she promised him everything would work out.

They had known because of the information given back in the past that Sanford would be a perfect match for him, and his bone marrow had saved his life. It had been a very difficult time for everyone. Gadget recalled a time when the pain had become unbearable as the radiation slowly destroyed the toxins that were poisoning his system, the pain had gone down to every single human bone that still remained in his cyborg body, but Sanford had been at his bedside, willing him to hold on, to fight and be strong. He also recalled Taylor Braydon giving him a gift to help him recover –he had given them a beach house...

Then he started to smile, recalling a memory from long ago of a young Penny teasing Sanford when she heard him mention he used to have a weight problem. They had been at a party at the Mayor's house, and Penny had snatched a plate of chocolate cake out of his hand, saying:

_"Better not, fatboy...I'll take that..."_

Gadget laughed.

"Penny always did call Sanford fatboy!"

Brenda smiled.

"I think, to be perfectly honest, he likes being put in his place by her. But I know he loves her very much."

"And they've got a son, Sanford Junior?"

"That's right, SJ..."

Something fell into place.

"They got together because of me!" Gadget exclaimed.

"That's right," Brenda replied, "They did. Penny started to get closer to him, to feel something for him around the time he was your bone marrow donor. And when she found out the transplant had been a success –"

Gadget's eyes shone with happiness at the memory.

"Penny had come to see me and she was sitting next to my bed and Sanford looked in and said, I won't be a minute Gadget, I'll go and get myself a chair. But Penny jumped up and started calling him, saying, '_Come here, fatboy, I want to say something to you, move your fat ass, get in here!' _So he came back into the room and she just threw her arms around him and kissed him. Then she said, _"You're amazing, you saved my Uncle's life, the transplant's worked, he's going to be okay!",_ and then she looked into his eyes and said, _"I love you."_ And I thought Sanford was going to cry. Then he held her for a long time and then told her he loved her too."

Gadget's eyes sparkled at the memory, as he laughed softly, adding: _"And Megan said, 'Penny's in love with fatboy? No way...!' "_

Then Gadget fell silent.

Memories were crowding him now, wonderful memories, it hit him so suddenly, so unexpectedly as he recalled how the timeline had changed:

Yes, dating Brenda Bradford a year earlier certainly _had _changed the future – he had got her pregnant...

Brenda blinked back tears as she saw the joy that shone in Gadget's eyes, and she knew he had remembered.

_"We have a daughter. She was born three months before you became a cyborg."_

Gadget nodded as tears ran down his face and he clung to his wife's hand.

"I was there when she was born...I used to drove her to school in the Gadget Mobile... she's seventeen now...looks a lot like me but she's got your eyes..." Gadget laughed, adding, "I'm so happy I don't even care I just remembered she's dating Riley Scolex!"

And as he thought of his daughter, he recalled that in this altered timeline, Riley had never been a cyborg – but he was an arrogant young man who had a string of broken relationships behind him. Sanford seemed to think it was okay for Riley to put himself about, but Gadget had not approved when he found out his daughter was seeing Riley. He had tried so hard to keep them apart...

"I think he really likes her," Brenda replied, "And Riley's not as wild as he used to be. I think he's got a lot of respect for Megan."

"He'd better respect her," Gadget replied, and Brenda smiled as she shook her head.

"Don't start again! Leave them alone, Gadget, don't be so over protective!"

And he looked at her fondly.

"I remember it all now," he told her, "It's all coming back."

Gadget was still recalling the sudden flood of memories, recalling so much from the years he spent raising Penny and his daughter. He wanted to ask Brenda if Bess Nightingale worked at the cybernetics center, and then he wondered if Robo Gadget was reactivated in this timeline.

But he had no time to ask as Brenda handed him his coat and hat.

"I think," she said kindly, "Next time I screen your blood, we'll do it at home. Would that be better for you? I have portable lab equipment; we can do it there instead of making you come into the cybernetics center. I know you get worked up because you worry, but there's no need, Gadget. These tests are routine. And the odds on you getting sick again are extremely low indeed."

And then she suddenly remembered something that had been forgotten as he asked her to fill in the missing memories, "And by the way, your test results were perfectly fine, honey."

And Brenda kissed him fondly, her kiss lingered and then she kissed him again.

"I want you to go home, let the Gadget Mobile drive, just go home and rest. I'm finishing work in around an hour and I'll come straight home. Then if you're still getting memories falling into place, I'll help you put the pieces together."

And her eyes shone with love as she looked at him.

"You were right," she said softly, "It was wonderful to experience that moment where you felt the timeline shift. It was amazing."

Gadget put on his hat and buttoned up his trench coat and smiled at Brenda.

"You're amazing," he told her softly, and then he kissed her again, and walked out of the room, heading for the exit, where the Gadget Mobile was parked outside.

As he walked on he recalled the car got just as anxious as he did over his blood test results, and he knew the first thing he had to say when he saw the car again, was that he was okay, the tests were all clear.

Then as he left the building and approached the car, another thought hit him, and this one left him feeling bewildered:

_If Sanford had never been Claw, if the explosion had never happened, why had he ended up with the same destiny, becoming a seventy percent cyborg named Inspector Gadget?_

That question weighed heavy on his mind as he went back to the Gadget Mobile, knowing he still needed answers to so many questions, and that feeling was still there, nagging at the back of his mind as it made him feel uneasy:

_He was missing something, there was something else he ought to be aware of, but he just hadn't recalled it yet..._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

As the Gadget Mobile took the route that would lead to the beach house, Gadget stayed silent, thinking about the altered world he had returned to.

"_G Man..." _

Gadget heard the car speak, knew the face on the screen was looking up intently at him, but his thoughts were still on the changes to the timeline.

"Where's Bess Nightingale?" he wondered.

"She works at Taylor Braydon's free hospital. You _know_ that..."

"Is she cybernetically modified?"

"Which part of her isn't!" the car exclaimed, "It all started last year when Dr Todd came over to work on an experiment with emergency sealant to fix cable injuries... and pretty soon, they got together and soon _she_ became _his_ experiment!"

Then Gadget remembered and smiled; although in this timeline he had never suffered a cable injury, Taylor had wanted an expert to come in and work on research into ways to bond cables in an emergency – and Bess had met Felix, and the two of them had fallen in love...and discovered quickly they shared her passion for modification – she wanted the mods, and he was happy to give them to her...

"Dr Todd was the guy who fitted my new face," Gadget replied, "After I was injured?"

The face on the screen flipped over as he looked down at it.

"Of course he was, he created the first ever cyborg face – a copy of his own – but I don't want to talk about the past, G Man! You _still _haven't told me if the blood tests were okay!"

The beach house was almost in sight.

"My bloods were fine, stop worrying!" Gadget replied.

"_Me_ stop worrying?" the car exclaimed, "You were so nervous this morning you made me pull over to the side of the road so you could throw up! I've been so worried about you!"

The car turned the corner, headed up the road and then turned into the drive way, parking outside the beach house.

Gadget smiled down at the screen.

"You don't have to worry now, I'm fine!"

The engine turned off but the face was still looking up at him.

"Why did you just ask me so much about the past?"

"I was just wondering," Gadget replied, and then he fell silent as he looked out across the beach and watched the waves roll to shore.

_In another time and place, he recalled sharing his life with Bess._

His heart ached, but only briefly as new memories filled the emptiness he felt at her loss – his life had changed, he was no longer with Bess – but he had been given a second chance with the love of his life, he was married to Brenda and they had a daughter together...

_It seemed everything came at a price, even his happiness in the altered timeline_:

_He would never forget memories of the other life he shared with Bess, because those memories were stored in his electronic memory bank. But he had Brenda, he had the love of his life and that was all that mattered now..._

"You've got that far away look in your eyes again!" the car complained, "Why don't you share your thoughts with me, I need to know these things!"

"What things?" Gadget asked as he looked down at the screen.

The little face smiled up at him.

"_Anything_ that's bothering you, because we're friends."

Gadget smiled too, recalling how he had missed the Gadget Mobile when he had been back in the past.

"Nothing is bothering me, and yes, you're right – we are friends," he replied, and then he got out of the car.

"Recharge your battery; I'm going inside to recharge mine too."

And then Gadget walked up to the front door and unlocked it, and went inside the beach house.

* * *

As Gadget closed the door, at first glance, the place looked the same as he recalled it from the other timeline.

Then he noticed the picture on the wall of him and Brenda on their wedding day, and as he approached the front room, he paused to smile at the photo of the pretty, dark haired girl with his face and Brenda's eyes. Megan was seventeen now, but he could recall every precious moment of her life.

_Every moment except for the six months he had been in a drug induced coma after his body had been rebuilt..._

Brenda had begged for the Mayor to give her permission to allow her to save his life by using him for the Gadget Project... he knew it had been tough for her, Brenda had cried in his arms later on after she told him how his face had been reconstructed, how his body had been rebuilt with machinery and robotics and gadgets...

At first he had not been able to hold her, to love her, to be close to her, it had taken a long time for him to accept his part machine body. But she had remembered the advice he had given before the machine had dragged him back through time:

She had _not_ given up on him.

Their love had grown stronger; they had become closer, unbreakable. What could have torn them apart had made them strong enough to last a lifetime...

Gadget walked into the front room, still deep in thought.

He could recall so much – but nothing about the circumstances that had left him a seventy percent cyborg...

_The Gadget Mobile knew._ But the car had already asked him why he was talking so much about the past and he didn't want to sit down and explain everything, because it would take so long and the car would ask even more questions. He was sure it would come back to him eventually...

Gadget heard soft voices carried through the open window and looked out.

Penny was sitting on the lawn pushing windswept hair from her eyes as she looked to her companion and talked some more, while SJ snoozed in his rocker with a canopy to shade him from the sun. Her companion was his daughter Megan.

He felt his human heart beating faster as love and pride washed over him as he recalled every moment of his daughters life as if this timeline had forever been set in stone.

Then he took in a deep breath and opened the patio door, and went outside to join them.

Megan jumped up from the lawn and looked at him anxiously.

He saw a look in her dark eyes that sharply reminded him just how hard his illness had hit her; she worried about him all the time, far too much.

"Are you okay?"

Penny got up too.

"It's good news, right?"

Gadget smiled at them as he took off his trench coat and draped it over the patio table, then laid his hat on top of it.

"Yes girls, I'm fine. I knew I would be."

And he turned to his daughter.

"And you should stop worrying so much, I heard you, up late last night talking to your Mom about how worried you were about my blood tests."

A flicker of guilt appeared in her eyes.

"I wasn't talking to Mom," she said, "I was on the phone."

"On the phone? Who were you talking to?"

"Um... _me,_ Inspector G."

He turned to see a young man standing behind him. He was dressed in jeans and a designer shirt and wore the same cologne as his father.

Gadget's eyes narrowed as Riley passed two glasses of lemonade to the girls.

"I don't recall inviting you over."

"Uncle Gadget, he's been really helpful," Penny said kindly, "Riley's been keeping Megan company –"

"I'll bet he has!"

"He's been keeping her company and telling her not to worry! And he's been great with SJ, too. He took him for a walk along the beach in his stroller –"

"And Megan went with him?" Gadget guessed.

Penny laughed.

"_And so did I."_

And Penny shot him a look he recalled he had seen before, when she had told him to lighten up and not be so mistrustful of Riley. He guessed if his niece believed the guy had changed his ways, he ought to give him a chance.

"That was nice of you," he said, and surprise registered in Riley's eyes, and then he smiled.

"I was just thinking I might take Megan for a spin in my new car."

"As your Dad is my best friend and I know everything about you anyway because I'm a cop, I'll have to say no to that. It's a high powered sports car and I think you might want to show off and drive too fast."

Then Gadget pulled his own keys from his pocket and tossed them to Sanford's son.

"Take her for a ride in the Gadget Mobile."

Riley smiled.

"Thanks!" he said, and then his smile faded. "Oh but wait...the Gadget Mobile is _alive_, right? So won't that be like having another person in the car with us?"

Gadget smiled warmly.

"_Exactly, Riley."_

And he glanced to his daughter.

"Have fun, honey."

She kissed his cheek.

"I sure will, come on Riley, let's go."

"Okay," Riley replied, and followed her back through the house.

* * *

As they left, Penny laughed as she shook her head.

"Riley Scolex is _not_ as wild as he used to be! When will you understand that, Uncle Gadget?"

"She's my daughter," he replied, "I'm only looking out for her."

Penny was still smiling as she looked into his eyes.

"I'm so glad you're okay. Sanford's been texting me all morning asking if you'd got back yet."

"Is he off work today?"

"It's his day off, remember? Maybe you should call him. Here, use my phone, check out how many times he's messaged me."

She handed Gadget her phone.

He accessed messages, and saw several from Sanford, all reading the same message: _Any news yet? How is he?_

Gadget began to write a text:

_Sanford, this is Gadget. I'm fine. Results were all clear. _

Then he laughed as he sent the message.

"I give it thirty seconds before I get a reply," he said.

Penny laughed too.

"He's fast on his phone. I say twenty..."

Moments later the phone beeped and Gadget read the message:

_Of course you're fine, that's Scolex blood for you! I come from good stock. Love you._

And then Gadget felt warmth rush through his heart as he recalled the days when he had been in pain following the radioactive implant treatment, when Scolex had not left his side. They had been close friends for many years, but now they had grown as close as brothers.

Gadget wrote another message:

_Love you too._

And then he sent it and handed the phone back to Penny.

"I think it's great that you two are so close, he's like the brother you never had," Penny told him.

"Yes, I'm fortunate to know him," he agreed.

Then he began to walk towards the end of the garden, where the view over the low wall opened up to the beach and the sea beyond.

Penny walked beside him, noticing he seemed deep in thought all of a sudden.

"Can I ask you something?" he said as they reached the end of the garden and the salt breeze blew over warm.

"Anything," Penny replied.

Gadget had already decided how he would phrase his question.

"What do you remember about what happened years ago, when I was injured?"

Penny ran her fingers through her hair and looked into his eyes.

"I haven't thought about it for a long time..."

"I just want to know what you remember."

He caught a haunted look in her eyes but then it was gone, and for a brief moment he felt guilty for stirring up memories of old pain. But then she started to speak, and Gadget listened:

"Well, you quit your job at the lab because you said you said with all the research they were doing, there could be a risk of break ins and stuff like that, and you didn't want to put yourself in danger because you had me to think of. And then you got another job, working as a night watchman at a factory. Then you and Brenda got together and she got pregnant with Megan and things were okay for a while, Megan was born and you were still working nights..."

Penny paused, and as Gadget saw that look come back to her eyes, he wanted to tell her to stop, because she blinked away tears as she briefly looked out to sea, but then she met his gaze again and continued to speak:

"We were so happy, we were such a close family, I remember, I felt like nothing could go wrong. And then I woke up one morning and you hadn't come home from work. Then the cops knocked on the door to say you'd been badly hurt."

Gadget looked intently at his niece as he wondered if history had repeated itself, if he had tried to stop a robbery and if identical circumstances had played out...

But what she said was the last thing he expected to hear:

"_They said you'd been driving home after a late shift and fallen asleep at the wheel. Your car crossed into the oncoming traffic and you smashed head on into a truck."_

Gadget stared at her.

"_It was a car accident?"_

Penny had not noticed the shocked tone of his voice as she carried on explaining:

"I wanted to see you but Brenda said no, because your injuries were so bad she thought I'd be traumatized. Then you had a lot of surgery. When I did see you, it was months later, and you were recovering."

She paused for a moment, taking in a breath as she kept her emotions in check, "I can understand how Megan feels, why she worries about you so much. We all got scared when you were sick, but she took it the hardest. I almost lost my Uncle when you crashed the convertible in '99. But eighteen months ago, she thought she was going to lose her Daddy when you needed the transplant."

And then Penny smiled.

"But I never doubted you'd make it – I told her that, I already knew what a fighter you are. Give me a hug, I need one."

Gadget drew her into his arms and hugged her tightly as he wondered about time and fate and how much could be changed, but how much was inescapable. It seemed despite his best efforts, destiny had already marked him out to be the first cyborg, and even the altered timeline could not change that.

Penny was smiling again.

"Everything's okay now," she reminded him, "You're better and all the bad stuff is over."

Gadget smiled too.

"You're right, it _is_ over," he agreed, and they walked back down the lawn together.

* * *

After Penny left with SJ, the Gadget Mobile returned without Megan and Riley, and informed him they had decided to go and watch a movie, and would be making their own way back later.

Gadget guessed that it was part of a plan for the two of them to get some time alone together... And then he remembered Riley was his best friend's son, and even though in this time line, Riley still had a wild past, he knew he ought to give the two of them a little more space – they were determined to be together, and the more he tried to stop it, the more determined they would become. Megan wasn't a little girl any more, and Riley had changed a lot in the last couple of years, for the better, too...

As he waited for Brenda to return, Gadget felt very much alone all of a sudden as he thought about the changes to the timeline; it was a better life, a different one, but so many of his former memories were stored away from both timelines and he knew it would be a long while before he accessed memories of the former life he shared with Bess, in a world that had been very different to this one, a world where Sanford had once been his biggest enemy...

He had considered erasing all the memories from the other timeline, but it would have been too much of his life and recollections to wipe out. And so he had decided, just because he was a cyborg and had the ability to recall both timelines, he would keep the memories, even the bad ones. And then he decided that if his heart ached for Bess once in a while, it was a fair exchange for what fate had handed him instead – even if he was still seventy percent cyborg.

_It seemed some things were just meant to be, and no amount of meddling with the timeline could alter it._

That thought stayed with him, and it nagged at him silently as he waited for Brenda to come home, lingering in his mind that there was something he had yet to recall...

And then the phone rang.

He picked it up right away, recognizing Quimby's number.

"Gadget here, Chief."

"Brenda called me," Quimby replied, "I'm so glad to hear your tests came back ok. And I know you probably want to relax on your time off, but I really need you to meet me over at the Waking Dreams facility, it shouldn't take long. _We found something in a back room, it was sealed off and we're not sure what it is._"

Gadget felt a chill creeping through his mix of human and cybernetic bones as he understood _exactly_ what the Chief was talking about.

"I'll be there in ten minutes," he replied, and then he left a note for Brenda, and hurried out to the Gadget Mobile.

Memories were not yet sliding into place, there was one last piece of the puzzle that had to be found – and there was only person he could ask about it...

* * *

Moments later he was heading over to the Walking Dreams facility, the Gadget Mobile speeding off like a blur as the rockets burned blue flame.

As he crossed the bridge into the former industrial zone, Gadget was beginning to feel as if he was getting closer to the truth.

He stopped the car outside the main building, where Quimby was waiting for him.

"Thanks for coming over," the Chief said, "I know it's been a tough day for you, but you really need to take a look at what my people found today..."

And Gadget said nothing as he went into the building and walked with him to the elevator and the Chief stepped inside and hit the button for the top floor.

_It was starting to dawn on him that there was much he could ask, but he didn't need to all of a sudden, because he was starting to remember something..._

They got out at the top floor and the Chief led the way into a room beyond Jaxon Wilberforce's private apartment.

"We don't know what it is," Quimby said, "I'm getting some of Taylor Braydon's people over to take a look at it later on –"

"No need." Gadget replied, as he stood there looking intently at the glowing panels and the wiring that ran around it:

_This was the time machine, in this altered timeline, it had turned up all over again. _

_Enough changes had been made, time was to dangerous to mess around with..._

"Do you know what it is?" Quimby asked him.

"Stand back, sir." Gadget replied politely.

And then he walked up to the machinery.

"_Go go Gadget mallet!"_ he said, and as his right arm switched to a giant steel mallet, he smashed it into the panels, the controls, the wiring, smashing it over and over again, the smashing and crashing echoed through the empty complex as he continued to smash it until nothing was left but fragments.

And then Gadget stepped back, the mallet retracted and he gave his human hand a quick shake, brushed dust from his hair and his trench coat, stepped over the debris and turned back to the Chief.

He didn't see him at first, until he looked down.

Quimby picked himself up from the floor where he had dived for cover to escape the shower of broken machinery, and then as he looked at Gadget his face grew red with anger.

"What the hell did you do _that _for? It could have been an important piece of scientific equipment!" he fumed.

Gadget looked him in the eye, answering confidently as he decided this was one time when he _had_ to lie to the Chief.

"No sir, it wasn't." he announced, "It was a _weapon._ I had to destroy it, I noticed it was primed to explode."

The Chief stared at him.

"Really, Gadget?"

"Yes sir, I had to destroy it immediately. But don't worry, the threat's eliminated now."

The redness faded from Quimby's face.

"Thank you, Gadget," he said.

"No problem, Chief," he replied, and then he checked his watch.

"I have to get going now. I promised to take my wife out for dinner after she finishes work."

_It was another lie, but he had to get away, because there was something he had to do..._

* * *

Gadget left the Chief to finish up at the facility and hurried from the building.

He got back in the Gadget Mobile and started up the engine, telling the car to take over driving as he made a phone call.

Sanford Scolex answered right away.

"Gadget!" he said warmly, "Wonderful news that the bloods came back okay. I _knew_ they would, that's Scolex blood for you – fine stock, like I said! And you're invited to a party at the weekend, we all are – Robo Brenda and Robo Gadget are getting engaged! And they're going to live with Kramer, he's ever so happy they're going to be staying with him –"

"Sanford," Gadget cut in, "I didn't call for small talk. _Meet me by the bridge_..."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the Gadget Mobile was parked at the roadside and Gadget waited, watching as Sanford's car pulled up and then his best friend got out and hurried towards him.

The two men met on the river bank, just below the bridge, at the site where the explosives had been planted in the former timeline.

"What's going on?" Sanford asked, as he stood there in a dark suit while he ran his fingers through his hair as the breeze ruffled it.

Gadget looked at his best friend.

"_That moment where the timeline shifted, it's happened."_

Sanford's eyes reflected guilt all of a sudden.

_"Oh...I see..."_

Gadget took a step closer.

"I just worked it out," he said, "The Chief told me recently that he was closing the case...I saw it as new memory back in the past, I didn't know what it was about. _But I do now_."

And he kept his gaze locked on his best friend.

_"The Jaxon Wilberforce murder,_" Gadget added.

Sanford briefly closed his eyes as he took in a slow breath, silently praying that his actions would not cost him his closest friendship. Then he looked back at Gadget and explained everything:

"After you put Riley in my arms, I watched as my older self disappeared, then I watched you dying in the arms of Brenda Bradford and I remembered everything I'd been told! I _did_ change my life, I changed it for the better."

And then anger blazed in his eyes.

"But Jax didn't change a thing! He came back here, he built the Waking Dreams facility and I started to watch him, follow him – when I saw him beneath the bridge I searched his car and I found the explosives."

Then his voice dropped as he continued:

"It wasn't because I was angry that he didn't keep his promise. _It was about consequences!_ I knew if those explosives were planted, the bridge would collapse and you would get the cable damage and die from it. _So I prevented it from happening_."

"You killed him," Gadget said.

"He didn't even see me coming, his back was turned. I fired once and he went straight down on to the riverbank. I knew he was dead but I put two more bullets in the back of his head –"

"To make it look like a mob killing?"

Sanford nodded.

"I'd heard Jax had established a few shady connections over the years so I thought it would fit pretty well. I'm sorry, Gadget. But perhaps some things are meant to be – in the other version of events, I was a bad man who lived a bad life. I was a man with blood on my hands. Perhaps that was always my destiny, who knows? _But I am sure that at least this time, when I killed, I did it for love_."

Gadget blinked away tears as he looked at the man who was his closest friend, the man who had become as a brother, who had saved his life when he needed the transplant – and knew for sure this was the only time in his career as a detective that he would be happy to remain silent about a crime.

_"I'm sorry,"_ Sanford said, _"But I had no choice, I wanted you to live."_

"That's the second time you've saved my life," Gadget told him, and he put his arms around his best friend and the two men embraced beneath the bridge as the water flowed past, the same water that had bore silent witness to the murder of Jaxon Wilberforce – a closed case that would never be solved.

As Gadget let go of him he saw no regret in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said, "I never thought I'd feel this way, but I guess there are times when rules have to be broken."

Sanford nodded.

"And now let's never speak of this subject again."

"_Agreed,"_ Gadget replied, _"Life's too precious to keep looking back."_

They exchanged a smile that needed no more words as both knew their friendship would last forever, and then the two men walked back up the riverbank, to continue with their lives in an altered future, leaving the past as a closed door.

The End.

**Author Note: **

**Book FIVE, "Body Snatchers" follows on from this fic ~Aline Riva~**


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